The Unexpected Life of Draco Malfoy
by RavenHairedQueen
Summary: After the battle of Hogwarts, Draco Malfoy found his life to be quite unpleasant. His parents and he have been captives in their own manor while awaiting trial by the Wizengamot. Draco doesn't have high hopes for his sentencing. Until help comes from the most unexpected person and the consequences of his crimes are to be forgiven in the most unexpected way. Comment and follow :)
1. Chapter 1

Blurb: After the battle at Hogwarts life had been pretty much what Draco Malfoy expected. His parents and he were trapped in Malfoy Manor, all awaiting trial. He expected the worse. Knowing that his family's involvement with the Dark Lord would condemn both his parents and himself to the darkest of fates, a dementors kiss. What he didn't expect was not only for the trial to go in his favor but for Harry Potter to be the one to stand up for him. And his punishment? Nothing that he was expecting at all. Can he learn to be a new man or will he end up suffering for his prejudice anyway?

Chapter One. Consequences.

Consequences.

Draco Malfoy tried hard not to stare at the wizard in front of him, but his eyes kept flitting his direction anyway. He sat rigid in the chair that they had chained his wrist and ankles too, refusing to move, he didn't want to make the chains rattle. He didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than necessary. Glancing up at the Wizengamot assembled above hi. Thankfully, it seemed all their attention, for the moment, was on the wizard standing to his side, the only person to come to his and his mother's defense. Harry Potter.

"As you all can see. Circumstances, in this case, are not as clear-cut as some of the others. Yes, Draco Malfoy acted against me and the cause to vanquish the Dark Lord, but it wasn't entirely his fault." Potter said, sounding extremely formal and un-Potterish. He went on to talk about the abuses of Draco's father Lucius Malfoy, the threats against both Draco and his mother's lives. He went on for what felt like hours.

 _Man… he's really laying it on thick._ Draco thought as he watched the faces of the men and women of the Wizengamot. Some of their expressions seemed to have softened, but it was really impossible to tell. It didn't matter if some of them softened anyways, one or two of them wouldn't make the difference in his life and death. It had to be a majority… and it seemed Potter knew that as well. He continued to go on and on about the good things that Draco had done. Draco knew very well the things that he had done, and Potter was exaggerating everything. Twisting the events until they were barely true. Draco knew better than to say anything though, so he ignored the pain in his back the uncomfortable chair was causing and tried hard to act like the testimony of Potter didn't sound new to him.

"With that, I hope that you all can see in your hearts to clear Draco of all charges," Potter concluded. He too scanned the wizards and witches in front of him, looking for sympathetic expressions. All he saw was a group of formal looking people staring back at him in shock. No one had expected him to show up today in Narcissa's and Draco's defense. He was hoping that would help pull in their favor, they both did horrible things, but anyone could tell that their hearts weren't in it. They were being forced by the end and both had shown, in their own way, bravery against Voldemort. Hopefully, it would be enough. Draco was far from a saint, but he didn't deserve the dementors kiss, and neither did his mother.

"We will need some time to think about this." The small wizard sitting in the middle of the group said after a long pause. "If you don't mind."

Harry dipped his head and watched as the small wizard gave a quick wave of his wand, a thick curtain appeared separating Harry and Draco from the assembled Wizengamot on the other side. The room was silent. Harry was sure that the curtain had a silencing charm on it, keeping all sound from crossing over to the side they were uncomfortably waiting on. He wasn't sure if that charm worked both ways though, so he didn't say anything as he glanced over his shoulder at Draco who seemed very interested in the floor at the moment.

The moment was short, but it didn't feel short. With a rustle, the curtain disappeared and the sounds of quiet muttering and paper shuffling returned. Draco hadn't even noticed that noise before, but he welcomed the sound of it.

"We have come to a decision." The small wizard said. His voice sounding a little stronger than before. "We will clear Mr. Malfoy of all charges."

Harry and Draco both let out the breath that they hadn't realized they were holding.

"Under the condition." The small wizard said, a small smile creeping in on his lips.

Draco, forgetting to ignore Potter, sent a nervous glance his way. He found the other young man looking just as confused as he was.

"Mr. Malfoy will have to spend two years in a rehabilitation program."

 _That didn't sound too bad._ Draco thought to himself. He was already wondering what he would have to do. Cleaning up parks, working with war orphans, free labor to help rebuild Hogwarts. None of it that he would enjoy, but if it bought him his freedom, he would do it.

"I see," Potter said, his voice wavering slightly "What kind of rehabilitation program?"

"For two years Mr. Malfoy will relinquish his wand, all of his power and all of his material items. During this time he will go to live with a group of Muggles. We have a special group that knows about not only about our world but of the circumstances for their visitors as well. There he will live, like a muggle, for the time of his sentence. If… at the time of his release, he seems to have a new outlook on his prejudice, he will be allowed back his belonging, wand, and ability to use magic."

Harry sent a nervous glance back at Draco, who was even paler than Nearly-Headless Nick.

The small wizard shifted his gaze to the younger Malfoy as well. "Do you accept this offer or would you rather get the kiss like your father?" He raised his eyebrows at Malfoy in a knowing glare.

Draco swallowed hard, his adam's apple bobbing with the motion. "I accept."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two.

The Muggle.

Draco watched as the Wizengamot filed out of the room, they all seemed to be talking like normal, moving like normal, but he couldn't focus or hear any of it. He told them that he accepted. He would have his wand taken, his magic removed, and his life… Muggle.

"Malfoy!" Potter's voice cut through the haze. Draco turned his head slightly to look into the face of the man he had terrorized for the last seven years. There was no contempt in his rivals face, no there was something else. Something that looked a lot like pity.

"Did you know that they were going to do that?" Draco sneered at him.

"I didn't," Potter confessed, running his hand through his untameable hair. "Honestly, I didn't," He looked Draco in the face. It was something that few have ever done, but even less likely to happen since the battle.

Draco wished he would take it all out on Potter. He'd make the easiest outlet for all the anger building inside of him, but something in Potter's face stops him. The sincerity in his expression makes the retort die in his mouth.

"I won't see my wand again? Will I?" Draco asks instead.

"No," Potter says. "I'm guessing you won't see it until the two years is over."

Draco nods, unable to form a coherent sentence _. No wand. No power._

"Come on, I see Hermione waiting for us at the door." Without another word, Potter walked off towards the Mudblood scum waiting for the two of them. _Muggle-born_ Draco chastised himself mentally. _She's Muggle-born, and I'm about to be as good as a Muggle myself._ Draco stood, trying hard to ignore the weakness in his legs. As he followed Potter, he wondered what his father's expression would be if he knew what his only son had agreed to.

"It worked then?" Granger addressed Potter, she flashed a smile over at Draco. Her smile faded as she took in his posture and expression. "What happened?" her voice taking on a dark tone.

"They're sending him to rehabilitation," Potter explains to her what the terms of his sentence are to her. Her color pales slightly, but a slight smugness seems to creep onto her features.

"I see." She turns her attention back to Draco. He forces himself to look at her. All those years of calling her Mudblood, making her life a living hell and his Aunt torturing her in front of him. He had done nothing to stop it either, he had to be the good little death eater he was supposed to be. Of course, she is going to enjoy his punishment. He's going to become, even temporary, all the things that he had used against her. "So, you're going to be a Muggle for two years." The smallest of smiles touches her lips. "I have to say that the punishment does seem to have a poetic justice to it."

A sneer forms on Draco's lips before he can stop it.

"Oh stop that!" she chastised. "I lived as a Muggle for 10 years and turned out just fine. It will be an adjustment for someone like you, but you're going to be fine."

She said the word _you_ like a curse. Someone like _him_ , Pure-blood, evil, deceived, wrong. He read between all the lines of that word, and the sneer melted from his face.

"There you lot are." A familiar red-headed man strolled down the hallway towards them. "I've been assigned to take Mr. Malfoy here to his new home." Draco watched Arthur Weasley as he bounced on the balls of his feet, looking more than ready to get going. He knew that the elder Weasley loved everything to do with muggles, but was surprised to see him considering.

"Great," Draco muttered under his breath.

Harry ignored him, but Granger shot him a disapproving glare.

"You're going to be fine." she integrated again, before turning on her heel going back up the hallway without as much as a backward glance. _Typical Granger_.

Harry turned back to him, giving him a small smile. "I never said thanks to you."

"For what?" His voice was already starting to shake.

"For not telling your aunt who I was. You knew it was me, I could tell, but you didn't tell her that." Potter nodded his head awkwardly. "So… thanks."

Draco nodded his head back at him slightly, the silence between the two former enemies heavy. Mr. Weasley awkwardly cleared his throat to break it, "We really need to be going." He said. "We're expected."

Potter gave him a tight nod. "All right then. I guess this is it for a while." Jerking a hand out of his robes he thrust it towards Draco. Slightly stunned, Draco slowly reached out to take it. They both gave a single firm shake before Potter, like Granger, turned to go back up the hallway and away from him.

"I didn't think that you would appreciate being paraded through the atrium." Mr. Weasley said, his voice stern but not harsh. Draco would've expected a harsher tone from him. Someone who had lost a son during the battle. Draco tried to push the thought that he deserved so much worse from him out of his mind. "I had it arranged for the port key to leave here." The elder Weasley said, his voice taking on a kinder tone.

"Why would you do that?" The question left his mouth before he had willed it to.

"Because." Mr. Weasley looked both resolved and on the verge of tears. "If any of us are going to move past this mess, the compassion has to start somewhere." He took a ragged breath and looked Draco in the eye. "Looking back on all of this, I would like to imagine that compassion started with me."

Unable to find anything to say to the older man, Draco just dropped his gaze to the floor. Mr. Weasley was showing him a kindness that he, himself, had never offered anyone else. A kindness that he wasn't sure that he deserved.

"It's time." Mr. Weasley said, holding out a small toy shaped like a blue telephone box.

Without even thinking Draco reached out to put his hand on it too, careful not to touch the other man. Before he could think about anything else, a familiar pull grabbed him behind his belly button and they were gone. When he gained his footing again they were no longer in the Ministry of Magic, but instead, they were standing in what looked like a small but neat study. There were books lining three of the four walls, with a sturdy wooden desk in the middle of the room with three worn chairs. It was clean, but Draco could tell it had seen better days. The ornate carpet covering the hardwood floors was worn out, showing a threadbare track straight to one of the three chairs. Many of the books on the shelves were missing their spines and some the spines were broken and hanging off the books at odd angles.

These were all things that would never have been at the manor. The carpet would have been charmed to stay clean and its piling fluffy and never worn out. The books would have been repaired the second that they started to show wear and the furniture… Well, the likes of it would have never have been brought the manor in the first place, so it is hard to think of what would have been done to improve it.

The simple wood doors behind them opened suddenly. Still coming to terms with what was happening, Draco couldn't bring himself to turn to see who he was living with for the next two years.

"Ah! Ms. Sharpe." Mr. Weasley said. Draco could see him rush forward to shake someone's hand from the corner of his eye. "It's so good to see you again."

 _Ms? So the one babysitting him for the next two years is a woman?_ Draco wasn't sure if he should be offended by that fact or not.

"So, this is my new tenant?" A small female voice said.

Unable to contain his curiosity any longer, Draco turned to look over his shoulder. She was of small build, probably about his age, maybe a year or two older. That was a big maybe. Wavy, dark hair fell to her waist and framed not only her elvish face perfectly, but also her small frame.

"Yes, this is Draco Malfoy." Mr. Weasley said as he gestured for Draco to come closer. He did, without even realizing that his feet were moving. Muggles. Muggles weren't supposed to look like this. He closed his eyes for a second and then opened them again, determined to find something tainted and wrong with her. Maybe, her nose was too thin and long, or maybe she was too short. Something.

"I see. My name is Jane Sharpe." She said, giving him a curious look. "You've been told about your stay with me then?"

"Yes." He hated himself for not being able to keep his nervousness from his voice.

"Good." She said turning her attention back to Mr. Weasley. "You're the one going to do the spell?"

Mr. Weasley cleared his throat awkwardly. "Umm… Yes. I am."

"All right then." She nodded her head at him to get on with it.

Taking a shaky breath he approached Malfoy, the young man in front of him shaking slightly despite the calm and collected expression on his face.

"Your hand, please." Mr. Weasley offered him his left hand.

Draco looked up at the man, aware that despite trying so desperately to school his features into calm, that the older Weasley could more than likely see through his mask. Slowly he reached his hand out, taking the one offered him.

Mr. Weasley held his wand over their interlocked hands and started the incantation. Draco couldn't force himself to listen or even to focus in on the dark purple tendrils of power that started leaking out of his arm, swirling over the dark mark that was tattooed there and into the arm of Arthur Weasley. It was a lengthy spell, one that took a toll on Draco. By the time that it was finished Draco felt sick, his stomach sitting in his throat as he stumbled back into one of the worn out chairs.

"It's done then." She said.

"Yes, it's done." Mr. Weasley at least had the decency to sound remorseful for what he had just done. The girl's voice gave off no remorse what-so-ever.

"Well, I'll get him settled then. Thank you, Arthur."

Taking the dismissal, Mr. Weasley turned on the spot, disapparating away. Leaving Draco alone with his new keeper.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three.

Fresh Beginnings

Jane shifted in her chair again, trying to find another comfortable position. She had been sitting there reading, keeping a vigil over the unconscious young man for hours now. She'd been told to expect him to be out of sorts for a while, but it had been fourteen hours now, and he hadn't even moved in his sleep. She rubbed a sore elbow that got bumped in the commotion of getting him upstairs, he had been semi-conscious at that point and had given her a hard time with the stairs. She regretted sending the older man away so quickly. She was sure that he could have gotten him upstairs with a flick of his wand, but there was no way to summon him back to help her. So she had done what she did best, she had just sucked it up and dealt with the situation. When she had finally gotten him settled into the extra room she had grabbed a book or two and taken up her silent vigil. Leaving him only shortly to get a shower, eat and stretch her legs.

She regretted her decision to host one of the offenders the second that she had entered the study to see Mr. Weasley, whom she had already met before, and the toe-headed man standing next to him. He was so young. When she had agreed to be a host she assumed that she would be hosting a woman or an older man. She had expected whoever they were they would be someone who looked bad. Like their bad decisions would have molded them into looking like someone capable of doing evil things and supporting such an evil cause. Instead, she was met with the terrified and surprised face of a handsome young man her own age. He didn't look evil, or wrong, he just looked tired, scared and untrusting. The shock of him was her own fault, they had sent her paperwork about her tenant, but she hadn't had time to look over it with everything else going on in her life. She had made a point to go over it after she finally got him settled in the bed though. Nineteen years old. He's her age.

Unable to get comfortable she gave up the attempt and stood. Going over to him to check his pulse again. The whole night had been stressful, and she had kept getting up to check his pulse because he was so quiet and unnaturally still. When she was satisfied that he was still alive, she went back to her chair, tucking her legs underneath her and leaning her head back against the padding of the overstuffed chair.

She closed her eyes tight and started to wonder about her own decisions through life, and even though there were quite a few questionable decisions in her past, for the life of her, she couldn't imagine making one so bad as to land herself in his position. She had seen his face when the magic was drained from him and saw how sad the older man had been to do it. Without a doubt, she knew that this man, Draco Malfoy, had done wrong, but he was not the evil that she had expected when her uncle approached her with this whole mess.

"How long have I been asleep?"

The sound of his voice made her jump, she felt a creep of a blush take over her face when she realized she must have dozed off at some point. She looked over at him to see that he hadn't really moved, just opened his eyes and turned his steel grey gaze on her. Glancing down at her watch she saw that another four hours had passed since she last checked.

"About eighteen hours." The grogginess sounded in her voice, but she tried not to mind. He had caught her sleeping, no use trying to hide her exhaustion at this point.

"I'm hungry." A simple comment but the way that he said it made her bristle. He didn't say it as a statement. No, it was a command. She had learned who he was in the wizarding world from the notes, and she would be damned if he was going to treat her like one of those little elf servants that his family owned.

"Well, I'll give you a moment to get cleaned up. Just meet me down in the kitchen and we can make some breakfast." It took all her self-control to keep her voice light and friendly. He had to learn, but being angry at him all the time wasn't going to help anything.

"Help you… make breakfast." He closed his eyes tight. She was sure that there was some sort of internal conflict going on inside his mind, but on the outside, he showed nothing. Nothing at all.

"Yes," she said lamely.

Slowly the young man moved his legs off the side of the bed and stood. All the shakiness that he had before gone. His presence was imposing as he stalked across the room to where she was still sitting.

"And if I decide I don't want to help you make breakfast?" The sneer on his face twisted his handsome features into those of someone else. Someone that looked capable of being evil and supporting an evil cause.

Bristling further she ignored all the alarms sounding off in her head. Two years, it's just two years. Unfolding her legs out from under herself she stood too, trying hard to make her stature seem taller than it was. Even with the effort, the top of her head stopped at his chest, forcing her to lean her head back to lock her honey brown eyes on his steel grey ones.

"Then I suppose…" she let a little of the ice she was feeling into her voice, "That you don't want to eat." Without another word she forced herself to march out of the room, slamming the door behind her. A part of her wanted to wait to see his reaction, and the other part of her wanted to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. She marched down the hallway cursing her uncle for talking her into this.

Draco stood still, glaring at the door that she just stormed out of. Two years. At this rate, he wasn't sure if getting a dementor's kiss wouldn't have been worth it. Just to avoid the disgrace of being talked down to by a muggle. He hadn't meant to offend her quite as much as he had, but he didn't want to help her do anything. He didn't know how to make breakfast, and he would rather not eat then ask someone like her to show him what to do.

So he spent the morning pacing. He paced back and forth until he was sure that the newer carpet in his room would look like the worn one in the study. He didn't remember getting taken from the study last night, he didn't remember Mr. Weasley leaving, and he didn't remember much of anything past seeing the first of the dark blue tendrils leaving his arm. He had tried not to watch them, but it was useless. It was like his body forced him to watch, not allowing him the peace of ignoring what was happening. A pain shot through his arm at the thought prompting him to stop his pacing. He used the fingers of his right hand to trace the dark mark that he knew was invisible under the white of his shirt. Snorting, he gave up on pacing and started plundering instead. He looked over the small room that he was in, it was painted Wedgewood blue, a color that was way too light to have been used in the manor. There was a wardrobe, dresser, a surprisingly comfortable bed, at least that was something. He wasn't going to spend the next two years condemned to a horrible mattress. All the furniture was stained in dark stain and was of simple make, and empty. There was nothing in here for him. No clothing, shoes, toiletries, nothing. He sank down on the bed allowing himself a moment to wallow in his self-pity. The patchwork quilt on the bed had uneven stitching that grabbed his attention as he tried hard to ignore the rumbling of his stomach.

He wasn't sure how long it had been since she had left him alone, but surely enough time had passed that she wasn't still in the kitchen. Another, louder, growl from his stomach prompted his decision to sneak to the kitchen to find something he could eat. Cracking the door open he peeked out to see the hallway outside of his room. Not remembering when he was brought here, made him aware that he didn't know the layout of the house. _It's so small though, it can't be that difficult to find the kitchen._ He thought to himself as he opened the door further and stepped out into the hallway. He quietly took his time looking around too. He was pleased to see that he wasn't wrong either. He discovered that there were only 3 bedrooms upstairs, one that looked lived in and smelled like Sandalwood, another one setup similar to his, clean but unlived in, and a small bathroom. He wrinkled his nose at the fact that there was only one bathroom, he was used to having his own personal one at the manor. He discovered that 3 of the stairs squeaked very loudly, and the study that he had been in last night was right off of a small living room. So far, there was no sign of the girl. _Jane Sharpe._ He allowed himself to think as he walked out of the living room down another small hallway into a bright and slightly cluttered kitchen. To his horror, there she was. Sitting one of 3 metal stools at end of a well-used counter. She had a large sandwich in front of her, and the sight of it made his stomach growl loud enough for both of them to hear.

"I was wondering when you were going to put your pride aside and come eat." She said simply as she looked him up and down. He knew that he looked a right mess. He had worn his best navy blue suit to the trial, picking a muggle fashion in an attempt to show that he was a changed man that held no prejudice. At some point last night he had lost the stiff jacket and was only in his white button-down sans tie, the top three buttons had been undone, and his blue dress pants. The black dress shoes and dark grey socks were missing too, leaving him barefooted. The scrutiny of her gaze made him uncomfortable. He was used to being looked at, but not used to being looked at like this. She wasn't admiring him like some did, and she wasn't condemning him like most. Instead, she was looking at him like he was some sort of project that needed adjustments.

"The bread is over there." She said when she was finished with her appraisal, she sent a lazy flick of her hand to indicate where 'there' was located.

If his stomach wasn't hurting with hunger he would have turned and gone back upstairs to his room right then, but another growl in his gut let him know that he couldn't just avoid eating altogether. Swallowing hard he looked to where the bread was located. A sandwich. He could make a sandwich without magic. Not like he had really made any sandwiches with magic either, that is what the house elves were for. He could feel her eye on him as he got the bread out _. I can make a sandwich._ He thought again, and that is what he did. She told him where the ingredients were at, and he assembled the messiest sandwich he had ever seen in his life, but he smiled down at his plate all the same.

He noted that she must have guessed that he would be down sooner or later because everything was already sliced, cleaned and ready for him, all he had to do was put it together. He sat on the stool next to hers and ate with none of the manners that his parents had spent years instilling in him. She silently ate her own sandwich, with much more grace, and smirked a little when she looked over at him.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four.

The Visitor

The next few weeks went about the same. Jane would get up to find him in the kitchen waiting for her. He would never ask for help with the cooking, but she would occasionally catch glances of him watching how she did certain things. His clumsy, unsure movements became more and sure until he was sometimes already eating by the time that she made it downstairs to the kitchen. She had gotten a laugh out of him trying to use the appliances. He took the time to explain to her that with magic, they didn't need them. She relished in the fact that he seemed to be coming out of his shell with her.

"We need to go shopping today." She said through a mouthful of toast. She was sitting on one of the cluttered counters while he sat on his usual stool on the other side of the room.

He didn't say anything as he cut those intense grey eyes up at her.

"Don't look at me like that. I'm tired of seeing you wear and re-wear the same pieces of clothing that you came with." He still didn't say anything, but he did turn his attention back to his breakfast, which she took as a good to go. "Have you ever been shopping in a muggle town before?"

"No. My family wouldn't have been caught in a muggle town."

She knew the answer but his frankness took her by surprise.

"Why did your family and you hate muggles so much?" The sincerity of the question was the only reason why he didn't bite her head off. He didn't like thinking about his family, or their pure-blooded antics.

"I didn't hate muggles." He wanted so badly to tell her that he wasn't like his family. That he had played into and believed the pure-blood madness to a point, but there was another part of him that saw Hermione Granger besting everyone at everything. That part of him knew that the pure-blood is better than all crap was just that, crap.

"Why did your family hate us then?" Her voice small this time, timid. She knew that she was walking a tight line and she very close to crossing into forbidden territory with him. He didn't usually talk a lot and the long hours between meals he always spent upstairs in his room. She had refrained from questioning him about anything too personal, until now. She really wanted to know more about him though, it was her job after all. She was already getting post from ministry officials wanting updates about him, and she didn't really have anything to say about him, other than he could now feed himself without magic and operate a blender.

"Because they did." His voice was quiet but not calm. She knew better than to ask the other questions bouncing around in her mind, so she sat silently watching him. He closed his eyes tight, she could tell the inner conflict was happening again. It was a long moment before he looked back up at her. "My father believed it because his father taught him to. His father before him had a father that believed the same things, and his father before him… and so it went… back further and further in our history." He licked his lips and looked down at his plate. "It's like they were brainwashed, and they couldn't see beyond their own little world to realize that there was another world out there… and it didn't believe what they did."

Jane dropped her own gaze back down to her plate. Draco glanced back up at her to see her, she was almost hidden behind the curtain of her dark hair. "Do you know how many pure-blood families there are in the magical world?" he tried to contain the bitterness he felt but failed. She didn't say anything out loud, she just shook her head. The gesture made her seem smaller than she was. "Twenty-eight. There are twenty-eight pure-blood families, and you know what would have happened to me if the Dark Lord would have succeeded?"

She shook her head again but at least found the nerve to look up at him again. "I would've been married off to a girl from one of those families. We're all kind of related in one way or another, so I would've been married off to some form of a distant cousin, and then it would have been up in the air whether we would have been able to have kids that where… alright. My own mother only carried one healthy child herself. Do you want to know what happened to all the rest?"

The horrified expression that took over her features told him that she didn't, but she said no all the same. She noted how the pain in his face wasn't the usual sneer that he sometimes wore to stop her from getting too close to him. That sneer was a mask, but this… this was real.

"I suppose." Her voice stopping in her throat awkwardly, she looked like she was trying to choose her next words very carefully. "That it's another good thing to come out of Voldemort not winning."

He cringed inwardly at the mention of the Dark Lord's name, but he refused to break eye contact with her. "Yeah. I suppose it is."

Neither could come up with anything else to say. Draco tried hard to ignore the nervous glances that she would send his way and tried hard to think of something to say to make the tension go away. The sudden knock on the door made both of them jump slightly.

"I'll get it," Jane said quietly as she rushed the room.

Draco watched her leave and let out the frustrated sigh that he had been holding. He hadn't told anyone all the rage that he felt about the past. He was glad that his future wasn't supposed to pan out the way it was originally planned, but it still made him angry. The thought that his father would have married him off to someone that he didn't care for at all, and that the man had no regard at all of how that decision would've made Draco miserable his whole life. He wasn't sure what made him snap and tell her all of that, but he would have to watch himself from now on. He couldn't afford to keep putting that kind of information out there. He knew that the ministry would be questioning her regularly. He was here, cut off from the magical world, but he hadn't been pushed aside and forgotten. He was sent here to be punished, a thought that he frequently reminded himself of whenever he found himself making horrible thoughts of the muggle work. He had never had to make up his own bed, or cut vegetables by hand for dinner or use his own hands to clean the dishes after a meal. He was capable, the lack of magic had proven that to him more than he would've guessed, but he still hated the fact that he was taking the time to do things that a wave of a wand could've done in seconds before.

The sound of voices coming up the short hallway broke him from his own thoughts. Jane came back into the kitchen, a rare smile on her face. "You have a visitor."

 _Visitor?_ Draco turned his attention to the door where none other than Hermione Granger followed Jane into the small kitchen. She looked better than the last time he'd seen her at the ministry. That was about a month ago, she seemed to have been getting more sleep, the dark circles under her eyes were lighter, and her frame looked like it had filled out too. He hadn't noticed how thin she was at the ministry until seeing her now with a more healthy amount of weight on her.

"Granger!" The shock of seeing her played out in his voice. He thought that he was supposed to be cut off from the magical world, why was she here.

"Draco." She nodded at him with a small smile. She looked a little uncomfortable, but she was handling the awkwardness well.

"Is there something wrong?" Draco was already on his feet, he took a couple steps towards her before stopping. Unsure if she would want him to approach her or not. "My mother…"

"Is fine!" Granger said quickly "She was given the same rehabilitation as you." The shock on his face was almost comical. She let out a small chuckle before she went on, "Harry went to her trial too. She was taken to her new muggle home the day after you were brought here. It took her a couple weeks to come to terms that she didn't have magic anymore, but she seems to be coming out of her shell pretty well now."

"You've seen her?" He took another step towards her.

Jane silently watched the pair of them with interest. She could barely believe that he almost seemed happy to see this woman, he had been pleasant enough after the tension of that first day, but she knew he wasn't happy. The two of them obviously shared some sort of history, but after reading his file she couldn't see how it would have been decent history. Nevertheless, there was something about the two of them, they seemed drawn to one another. Maybe it was just because she was the first person from his world that he had seen in a while, but that didn't really explain why the excitement seemed to be mutual.

"Yes, I've seen her." Granger gave him a sincere smile. "I've been tasked with keeping up with the two of you."

"You work for the ministry now?" Some of the excitement in his voice diminished slightly. _Maybe she's just here before she has to be,_ He thought to himself.

"Yes, but that's not exactly why I'm here." Her eyes flitted towards the other woman standing in the kitchen for a second before her attention fell back on him. "Jane told me that you guys were going shopping today. I figured I could tag along. I need to get some things for your mother. She's making good strides, but she isn't ready for muggle outings yet. I thought that you could help me pick her out some things. She would like that, you know."

Draco found himself nodding his head, both in agreement that his mother would like that and in disbelief that Hermione Granger was standing in front of him talking about shopping with him and showing genuine compassion towards his mother.

"Great!" Jane said, clapping her hands together in front of her. The sound made both Hermione and Draco flinch. "We need to get changed. Draco, you don't want to go out in your pajamas."

Draco looked down at the plaid printed fleece pants that he was wearing and the white t-shirt. Hermione could've sworn that his cheeks flushed a shade of pink before he composed himself.

"Yeah, you're right." His voice was calmer than Hermione remembered from Hogwarts. He was just… talking. There wasn't a hint of a sneer or disgust in his voice as he excused himself from the room. Hermione could hear the sound of his footsteps going up the creaky stairs.

"He seems… good." Hermione turned her attention back to the other woman. Jane Sharpe. She hadn't had the pleasure of meeting her yet, so the shock of seeing such a young woman had to have shown on her face when Jane opened the door.

Jane shrugged slightly. "He's getting there. He hasn't really talked much, even though he has been receptive to learning the muggle ways. He did admit to some stuff today, I think that he is harboring a lot of bad feelings about stuff that's not going to happen anymore. I'm not sure how to help him."

"What kind of stuff?" Hermione asked. Jane quietly went off in an explanation about everything that Draco had said to her over breakfast, leaving Hermione perplexed. She hadn't ever known the extent of Lucius' control over his son, but the thought of him being forced to marry seemed excessive. It did make sense to her though, they would have done just about anything to keep their bloodline "pure". The thought of it made her shudder.

Their conversation was cut short by the sound of the creaking stairs as Draco came back down the stairs. Jane gave Hermione an encouraging smile as she passed Draco in the hallway to get herself ready for the day out.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five.

Muggle Wanderings

Hermione could hear Jane's unsubtle comment to him about taking a shower before her feet could be heard going up the squeaky stairs. He came back into the kitchen an apologetic expression on his face.

"She's going to be a while." He said lamely.

Hermione had been around Draco Malfoy before. During classes, in the corridors of Hogwarts, even a few times at the Ministry after the war, but she had never been alone with Malfoy before.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" He kept clasping and unclasping his hands like he was unsure what to do with them. He came further into the room and pulled out one of the metal stools by the counter and held his arm out to offer it to her in the most un-Malfoy, but gentlemanly fashion.

"That sounds nice." She nodded her own head and took a seat on the stool. She could see his nerves, but to his credit his hands were steady when he turned his back on her and went to work, making her a cup of tea the muggle way. She couldn't help but watch him. He was calmer than she had ever seen him, relaxed even. His face didn't hold it's usual sneer, and his body language didn't hold any of its usual snottiness. He looked… good. Really good if she was being honest with herself. He was wearing a long-sleeved white dress shirt, but the top buttons weren't fastened and the sleeves were rolled up just slightly off his wrist. The dark blue dress pants were the same pair that he was wearing the day of his trial, but the day of the trial, she hadn't had the chance to admire the fit of them from behind. He looked well dressed but casual and comfortable.

He turned around and caught her staring. She could feel the blush creeping onto her cheeks and it only worsened when his own blush became visible.

"You seem to be adjusting well." She said clearing her throat awkwardly.

"It's been challenging." He handed her the cup of tea and went to lean against the counter across the room. "I haven't had much of a choice but to learn my way around the kitchen at least. Jane won't let me eat unless I help cook."

She laughed, a real laugh. Draco watched her as she took a sip of the tea, she smiled down at it like she was pleasantly surprised by it. It felt good to see her so calm and at ease around him. The only reaction that he'd ever gotten from her before was her cringing at the sight of him.

"Well, that's a way to accomplish something." She laughed again, and he felt his own face stretching into a smile.

"I'm glad you approve." His voice sounded light even to his own ears, he couldn't remember the last time that his voice had sounded like that. "How have you been doing? You like the new job?"

"Hmm." She said swallowing another sip of tea. "It's been great so far! I've got my own office and everything. I'm in charge of six cases similar to yours, but I have to say you're adjusting to muggle life much better than the other five."

"At least I'm good at something then." A little of his bitterness crept into the statement.

Her smile faltered slightly. "You've always been good at things. You were the next in our class after me and that isn't a small accomplishment."

"And look where I'm at now." He said, gesturing around to the small kitchen around him.

"This isn't because you weren't good at things… it's just a setback because of how you were raised." Her matter of fact tone reminded him of her in their first year at Hogwarts. He had given her a hard time then, but it was to mask the fact he found her obnoxiously cute.

"You're too nice."

"So I've been told." She flashed him a sly smile before finishing off the last of the tea. "You really do make a good cup of tea though."

"Thanks." He smiled at her again. It felt good to talk to someone who knew him. It felt even better to talk to someone without them tiptoeing around him. He knew that Jane was trying to make him comfortable by avoiding taboo topics, but the truth was it just made it difficult to talk to her sometimes.

The sound of feet coming down the stairs grabbed their attention as Jane popped her head in through the doorway. "You guys ready?" Her tone was innocent despite the fact that Draco knew she had taken way longer than usual to get a shower.

"Yeah," Hermione said, taking the cup to the sink. Draco let the girls lead the way out the door. He had been here for a month and had yet to go outside. He could see most of the street from his window, enough to know that this brick house looked like all the rest of the brick houses on the street. He hadn't had much interest in the world outside his room and the kitchen. He kept telling himself that would involve actually caring and he had been tried hard to just grin and bare his punishment without caring too much about it. His feelings changed the second that the fresh air hit his face and he allowed himself a few deep breaths as he walked down the sidewalk towards to small car in the driveway.

Both of the girls got into the front seats, so he slid into the back. He had ridden on trains, he had used the floo network, and he had apparated after he was old enough, but he had never ridden in a car before. He watched the two girls in the front as they buckled a strap over their waists, he turned to see a strap next to his seat as well, so he did the same thing. It took him about five seconds to understand what that strap was for. He wasn't sure what riding in a car was supposed to be like, but from the random gasps escaping Hermione as well, he was sure it wasn't supposed to be like this. They went from the driveway to the empty street, to chaos in what felt like seconds. Draco held the handle on the ceiling above the door and wished that he hadn't eaten such a heavy breakfast.

"Watch out!" Hermione screamed as they barreled down the highway, Jane cutting off at least three people in an attempt to get to the turn-off that would take them into town. When they were finally parked, Hermione gave Jane a weak smile as she unfastened herself and practically leaped from the car.

"How about on the way home, I drive." She said casually as she walked over to stand next to Draco, who was looking extremely pale.

"Sure," Jane said as she ran her hand through her long hair, flipping it over her shoulder. Draco had grown accustomed to the habit, but Hermione seemed to be slightly peeved by it. "Where do you want to go first?"

Draco turned to look up the street. There were cars everywhere, shops lining the sidewalks and muggles everywhere. Draco took another deep breath in and was rewarded with the smell of car exhaust, he wrinkled his nose slightly in disgust. He glanced over at the two women, but they seemed completely enthralled with making the agenda for the day, and he was momentarily forgotten. So he stepped away from them and went to the closest shop window, peering inside. It was a jewelry shop, and it seemed that muggle women liked the same flashy styles that the witches did.

"See anything you like?" Granger's voice sounded from next to him.

"Just thinking that maybe muggles aren't so different than us after all. I'm pretty sure that my mother has a few pieces that look almost identical."

She laughed a little as she took his arm and pulled him along with her, and so the day started. They had decided to shop for his mother first. They wandered in and out of stores for hours, Hermione asking him a thousand questions about his mother. Her likes and dislikes. What colors did she favor? Did she have a favorite kind of tea? Favorite snacks? What kind of clothes did she like to wear when she was just at home relaxing? Draco knew that Hermione was trying hard to be kind to his mother, so he tried hard to keep the fact she was overwhelming him out of his voice. She seemed to catch on to the fact anyway and stopped asking so many questions. She even let him sit undisturbed on one of the benches outside the last women's shop she wanted to go in.

He soaked in the peace as he stretched his long legs out and people watched. All the muggles were dressed so differently than he was used to people dressing, but despite their attire, he noticed a lot of the same things he would expect from the magical community. Children playing and joking around, young couples flirting and holding hands, older people talking to one another and laughing. He smiled a little as he thought that with or without magic, people were really just people.

He glanced back at the storefront to see Hermione and Jane looking through the racks of clothing inside. He took the fact that the two women left him outside unattended as a good sign. They both seem to have relaxed more around him today. He leaned his head back and closed his eyes, listening to the sounds of people talking and cars driving by on the road behind him.

"Alright!" Jane said as the two of them emerged. "Now it's time to shop for you."

He let a mock groan escape from his throat as they both grabbed a hand and hoisted him up off of the bench. Jane let go and started up the sidewalk, but Hermione looped her arm with his and they followed behind her, side by side.

"You need to get some short sleeved shirts today." She said quietly, "You're going to burn up in long-sleeved shirts all summer."

"The long sleeves don't bother me." He hoped that would be the end of it, but of course, she didn't care if he was comfortable with the topic or not.

"It doesn't matter if you mark shows." She cut her big brown eyes up at him, he glanced down at them.

"Says the person that doesn't have one." They both were surprised at how calmly he made the statement. He could tell that she was mentally prepared for him to go off on her, but he just couldn't. She was being so kind to his mother, and to him too, she deserved his kindness in return.

She didn't say anything back to him, instead just kept looking up at him, her eyes seeming to get bigger with every passing second. _Damn_ , he thought. "Alright…" he growled down at her. "If you can find some short sleeved shirts that I like… I will get them."

"Yay!" She hugged his arm a little before letting go and rushing forward to catch up with Jane. The two of them were already making a list of things that he needed and seeing how he had a total of three outfits at home, that list was long. Just like the rest of the day. Muggle shopping was completely different than any kind of shopping that he'd done before. No one was there to measure him or to fit the clothing magically. There were just racks and racks of clothes, and it was a guessing game until they figured out what size he wore, and then all bets were off. They two women darted around putting together outfits for him to try on and tossing different styles of shoes into the dressing room with him. He ended up with much more than he needed, and he wasn't even sure where the money for everything came from. He caught a glimpse of Hermione handing the clerk a small rectangular card before they left the store but had never seen anything like it before.

They had both insisted that he wear one of the new outfits out of the store, so he was now in a tighter than he was accustomed t-shirt, blue jeans, and flip-flops. He was one hundred percent sure that if his father saw him right then, he wouldn't recognize him, but something about that thought made him feel good.

As agreed upon earlier, Hermione drove on the way home, and it went a lot calmer than Jane's driving on the way there. Her being distracted with the task gave him a chance to really look at her too. She had her hair down, and the once untameable mess on her head was now perfectly tamed ringlets that fell to the middle of her back. She didn't look like she was wearing makeup, but her cheeks seemed to naturally have a pretty color to them, and her eyes were framed with gorgeous long eyelashes. He watched as she leaned closer to the steering wheel to look both ways before turning off the main road back onto the road that led to the house. Even though she had gained a little more weight she was still thin, and her figure was perfect. He only tore his gaze off of her when she pulled the car into the driveway, and he risked getting caught. Even though he was pretty sure he had caught her checking him out earlier, he didn't want her to know that he was doing the same to her.

It took several trips to get all the purchases in the house and sorted out. Hermione put all of the bags that belonged to his mother in the study and all three of them grabbed his bags to tote upstairs to his room.

"You want to stay for dinner?" Jane asked casually, throwing a smirk Draco's way.

"Oh gosh… I would love to, but I have to get going." She glanced down at her watch. "I already told Mason to expect me before seven and I know that Narcissa is going to be dying to hear about him." She jerked her head towards Draco. He couldn't help but feel a little put out that she was talking about him like he wasn't there. "Another night?"

"Oh yes… another night." Jane gave her a smile but turned to raise an eyebrow at Draco as soon as Hermione's back was turned to them. He ignored her as they all filed back downstairs.

"Well. I don't know about the two of you, but I had a great time today." Hermione said as she turned to look at both of them in turn. "We have to do it again."

"Absolutely!" Jane walked forward and gave the other woman a quick hug before turning and heading towards the kitchen. "I'll be looking forward to it," she called over her shoulder as she disappeared from view. Even though she was out of sight Draco was positive that she was eavesdropping.

"It was good to see you Draco." Hermione's smile touched her eyes, and a warm sensation seemed to sweep through his whole body.

"You too Hermione."

She rushed forward and gave him a quick hug before she went into the study, she didn't look back at him as she situated all the bags on her arm and turned on the spot, leaving him standing the living room alone.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six.

Making Strides

Draco stayed still for a long time, looking at the place that she just disapparated. A part of him felt sick from the display of the magic that he no longer possessed, and the other part felt sick because she hadn't even glanced at him before she left.

 _Why did you even want her to glance back at you?_ He tried to scoff at his own thoughts, but his heart really wasn't in it, so he went into the kitchen trying not to look dejected.

Jane had known better than to interrupt him. The whole internal conflict thing he had going on had taken on a whole new meaning the second that Hermione Granger had left the study. Jane knew that he missed his magic, she supposed if she had magic her whole life and lost it that she would miss it too. But the hurt on his face looked like it was more than just the magic bothering him. She had peaked around the corner at him to find him standing frozen, staring at the study as if he could will the witch back. She quietly went back into the kitchen and started cooking dinner. He still looked dazed when he joined her and she could tell by his expression that he was shocked to see her almost finished with the meal prep.

"I'm not happy with you," Jane said. Draco looked at the back of her head, confused.

"What did I do?"

She smiled to herself at the defensiveness of his voice. "You…" she turned around and pointed at him with the spoon that she had been using to stir the soup, "You didn't tell me you were interested in someone!"

Draco let out a laugh that sounded vaguely like he had been punched in the stomach.

"Interested in… Granger… her…" he waved his hands in front of him and shook his head. "You think that I'm interested in Granger?"

She smiled in victory as his whole face turned a bright shade of red.

"I don't think anything, Draco Malfoy. I know that you are interested in her." She turned her back to him and started stirring in the soup again. "And I think that she's interested in you too."

As soon as Hermione appeared on the street outside of Mason's house she felt a pang in her chest. She should've turned around and at least given him a smile, she still wasn't sure why she hadn't. All three of them had had a wonderful day together, and Draco did seem to be changing for the better. If he had been like the man she was with today all those years at Hogwarts, they probably would have been friends. Maybe even good friends.

She reached down and straightened her shirt before approaching the door to knock. Narcissa's host, Mason Hallworth was a lot like Jane on paper. One of his parents was a squib, the other a muggle. Neither Jane nor Mason inherited any of the magical powers that were hidden somewhere in their genes. But where Jane was young, energetic and bubbly, Mason was older than his years, often grumpy and had little patience. How he had been chosen to be a part of the rehabilitation project was beside her. He seemed to spend most of his time complaining about Narcissa under his breath instead of encouraging her to embrace her new lifestyle.

When he slammed the door open and scowled down at her. "You're late."

"The shopping trip went over a little." Hermione kept her voice light, choosing to ignore his rudeness. "I assume that you didn't have somewhere else that you needed to be?"

He grunted at her before looking over his shoulder into the living room. "No." he conceded as he gestured for Hermione to follow him through the entryway and into his large, homey living room. There was a tv on and a regal looking woman sitting stiff-backed on the couch. Even though the room looked like somewhere anyone could be comfortable, it was overly obvious that Narcissa Malfoy was not.

"You're here!" Narcissa jumped to her feet as soon as Hermione was in view. "How is he?" Hermione couldn't imagine what the woman thought was happening to her son. She could see and feel the worry rolling off of her.

"He's good." She said with a smile. "Actually, he's really good. He's adjusting beautifully to the new lifestyle. He seemed to enjoy the day out today too, he helped pick out some of your things." She raised her arms to draw attention to the mass of shopping bags hanging off of them.

"He's good." Narcissa looked on the verge of tears and she nodded at Hermione. "You have to tell me everything!" she reached out and guided the little witch to the couch. Hermione started at the beginning, going through all the details that she thought a mother would like to hear, and left out the ones that she didn't think that would like to. Hermione smiled to herself at the thought of him catching her checking him out.

"I miss him," Narcissa said sadly as she held up one of the new dresses that Draco had said she would like. He seemed to know his mother well, she did seem to like everything that was purchased for her.

"I know you do. I'm going to talk to the Ministry and see if…" She stopped, wondering if she should actually put a voice to her thoughts.

"To see what?" Narcissa dropped her arms, letting the silky dress pool on her lap.

Taking a deep breath Hermione went on. "He's adjusting so well. I'm going to see if maybe you two could visit one another, or maybe start sending one another post if nothing else."

Narcissa's face broke out into a wide grin, and her eyes shone more. Hermione hoped that she hadn't just given her false hope.

"I can't guarantee anything." She added quickly. "And if you started putting in more of an effort with things here it would make it easier for me to convince them."

Narcissa was already nodding at her. "Anything. I'll do anything."

Hermione gave her a small smile before telling her to go try on all the clothing. She wasn't supposed to use magic with her visits, but without Narcissa going with them today she couldn't be positive of her sizes… and she wasn't going to leave her with a new wardrobe that didn't fit.

It had been 3 weeks since their shopping trip, and Draco stood at the sink as he finished cleaning the last of the dishes. Jane sat at the counter absently eating grapes and watching the muggle device hanging on the wall. _The phone._ He shook his head as he corrected his thinking. He had to stop thinking about everything as just muggle devices, he was one of them for the time being.

"Does watching it help it do something?" He asked.

She jumped at a little at the sound of his voice. "No, I wish it did though."

"Who's supposed to be calling?" he dried his hands off on the towel and went to stand on the other side of the counter from her.

"Noone." She said too fast for it to be the truth.

He smirked at her. "I'm not happy with you." He mocked in a close imitation of her voice. "You didn't tell me you were interested in someone."

"Shut up." She laughed as she threw a grape at him. He laughed as she blushed. "He's just someone I met the other day while I was grocery shopping. He seemed nice, but I don't know if he'll call."

"He would be stupid not to." He added as he stole one of her grapes and popped it in his mouth.

"Thanks." She gave him a sincere smile as she walked towards to study. "I'm going to get some work done. I have to send some memos about how muggle like you are today."

Draco grunted. He knew that she had to do constant reports about him, and he felt she had become fairly comfortable with him by now. Ever since their shopping trip she had been much more relaxed around him, he would even go as far to say that they were becoming friends. Even with the knowledge that she wasn't saying anything bad about him, he hated the reports. They made him nervous.

The two of them laughed more now, he found himself coming out of his room more during the day too. She had introduced him to television, and they had a good time watching marathons of her favorite shows while eating junk food. He had to admit that they weren't that bad. He ventured out of the kitchen with his chores too. Learning how to mow the grass, vacuum, and use the washing machine. He allowed himself to be proud of himself after every new thing he learned. It was small accomplishments, but at least he wasn't just sitting idle twiddling his thumbs.

She had just left the room when the phone on the wall started to ring. Draco couldn't remember seeing her move so fast before as she whipped back around the corner to pick it up.

"Hello?" she smiled as someone talked on the other end of the phone. "Oh hey! Yes!" She gave Draco a wink before shooing him out of the kitchen. He went back to the living room chucking to himself. She deserved someone to be there for her.

He grabbed a book off of the end table and settled down on the couch, stretching his legs out over the length of the couch. Jane had already given up at telling him to keep his feet off the couch, and she didn't say anything to him about it when she came up the hallway a few minutes later.

"Get dressed! We're all going out!" She twirled her way to the stairs and disappeared up them laughing giddily.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter Seven.

Not My Cup of Tea

Draco was tired of changing clothes. Jane had said no to everything that he had put on so far. "This would be easier if you told me where we're going." He said as he stomped back up the stairs.

"That would take the fun out of it though." She yelled up the stairs at him. She was excited and happy, he could hear the smile in her voice. He smirked a little at the quip and went back into his room to change, again. When he descended the stairs again Jane looked him up and down and twirled her finger for him to spin. Feeling ridiculous, he slowly spun on the spot once.

"Much better!" she said as she grabbed her purse off of the chair on her way to the door.

"You're not driving are you?" He tried to make the question a joke, but he was honest in his concern. He had survived her driving once, he didn't want to test fate.

She mocked offense as she frogged his arm. "No… We're taking a cab." She said. "And we're meeting Garret there." He followed her out into the misty night air.

"Ah, the mystery man has a name." He watched her roll her eyes as she locked the door, they both got into the cab. Draco could tell that she was nervous. The fact that he didn't know where they were going had his nerves set on end as well. He watched out the cab's window as she dug around in her purse, the silence between the two of them familiar and comfortable.

"Here." She finally said. She held out a key and a wad of cash. "It's not a lot of money, so make sure that you count it out before you order too many drinks. The bartenders aren't going to like it if you come up short on your tab."

"We're going to a bar?" Draco was shocked. She had been nothing but a homebody since he moved in with her, but he guessed maybe she was a homebody because of him.

"We're going to a nightclub." She correct. "I like to dance." She flashed him a white smile as she pointed at the key in his still open palm. "This is my extra key to the house, please don't lose it."

"I'm going to be going home alone tonight?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Probably not." She said without looking at him. "It's just in case you want to go home earlier than I do."

"Ahh…" he pocketed the money and the key as the cab slowed to the stop outside of the flashy club and followed her as she led the way inside.

Hermione was sick and tired of paperwork, meetings, and hearing about Draco Malfoy and Jane Sharpe. She took a glance down at her watch again and resisted the urge to roll her eyes as yet another wizard had something to say about the arrangements of his rehabilitation. It was late, too late to be here listening to this nonsense.

"How do we know that he hasn't manipulated this young woman into a romantic relationship. That could explain all the rave reviews about his progress." A plump young witch said and to Hermione's despair, there were many heads around the long table that were shaking in agreement. This meeting was far from over, and she rubbed her hands over her face.

"Ms. Granger." Kingsley's deep voice was directed to her.

She dropped her hands and looked up at him, resisting the urge to grimace under his intense stare. "I went for my observation a few weeks ago. It's all in my notes…" she started.

"Yes, Ms. Granger." The plump witch said, her voice stuck up and stubborn. "We've all read the notes." Her voice was condescending and Hermione had to stamp down the irritation that was building up under her skin.

"Look, this was where you all agreed to send him." Hermione started, feeling her formalities slip away as her voice rose. "He's doing a wonderful job there, and he is changing. Changing for the better, and I'm sorry… but I don't understand why you all agreed to send him to rehabilitation if none of you were prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt when he did well with it."

The silence of the room seemed to scream back at her. They were all staring at her wide-eyed, and she realized that she was standing, glaring down at all of them in anger. Taking a deep breath she gathered the papers that were in front of her. "If any of you doubt my notes or Jane's reports about him then please, be my guest and go visit him yourselves." Without another look at any of them, she slipped all her papers back into her briefcase and stormed out of the room.

She knew that the meeting wasn't over and that there was going to be repercussions for her rudeness, but she couldn't sit there listening to them speculate Draco and Jane's relationship another minute. She knew that she should go visit the pair to see if all the talk was correct, but she hadn't been able to force herself to go. The whole situation frustrated her, and it frustrated her more that she couldn't understand why the thought of the two of them together bothered her so much. He had been such a prick to her in the years past, how was she able to so quickly change her thoughts about him? Jane always put him in a wonderful light everytime she talked to him, and it was like, through Jane, she was getting to know another man altogether, and that man wasn't at like Draco Malfoy at all.

"Hermione." Kingsley's voice boomed down the hall at her. "Wait."

She stopped but didn't turn to look at him.

"You're right." He said as he came up next to her, and she looked up at him in shock.

"I'm right?" She hated the disbelief in her voice, now wasn't the time to sound doubtful.

"We all agreed for him to go through this, but not many of us were prepared for the fact that he might actually do well with it." Kingsley's eyes looked like they were seeing through her, taking out all of her thoughts and picking them apart. "And I don't think that there's a romantic relationship behind his success either."

"You don't?" She kept her voice professional, still not sure why she cared if the two of them had started seeing one another or not.

He shook his head at her. "No, I don't. I have read all the reports too, and I just don't see any signs of that happening."

"You're not going to move him to another host then?"

"No, and he's not going to Azkaban either."

She let out the long breath that she hadn't realized she had been holding. The mention of the wizarding prison early in the meeting had awakened panic inside her, but she had kept telling herself that there was no way it would happen. He was doing too well, and anyone that saw him would know that he was sincerely changing for the better. They just had to see him like she had seen him the day they all went shopping.

"Thank you." She said giving him a small smile.

"I'll calm down the masses." He said as he patted her on the shoulder and started back up the hallway towards the conference room.

She took a few more steady breaths before apparating away.

It didn't take Draco long to realize that he was completely out of his element. He was used to large groups of people and noise, he had gone to Hogwarts after all. But what he had found himself in the middle of now was nothing like he had expected. There were people everywhere, and he could feel the vibrations of the music in his teeth. People were grinding on one another all over the place, and he just couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He scanned his gaze over the crowd again, and for the first time since he was sent to live with Jane, he felt completely helpless without his magic.

Thankfully, Jane hadn't abandoned him, which seemed to displease Garret. The other man kept shooting him nasty looks everytime the young woman included him in conversation. Draco chose to ignore it but made a note to himself to talk to Jane about what a prick he was when they got home. He looked down at his barely touched drink and came to the decision that he just couldn't handle it anymore.

He leaned over closer to Jane. "Hey… I think I'm going to head on home." He yelled in the direction of her ear. She frowned but nodded her head at him. "I was nice to meet you." He threw an acid grin at Garret as he offered his hand to the other man. They shook, both men squeezing the others hand too tightly.

Draco got out of the booth and went back outside. The night's cooler air cleared his mind instantly. He got a cab and made the ride home alone. He watched out the window as the vehicle weaved through the streets back towards the house. He couldn't remember the last time that he had been alone, he soaked in the sensation as he got out of the cab and unlocked the front door, stepping inside.

"Where have you been?" Hermione watched as Draco jumped and did the most ungraceful dance she had ever seen. She hadn't meant to scare him, but unable to stop herself, she started laughing. She couldn't remember the last time that she had laughed so hard.

"Bloody hell." He shut the door behind him and locked it. He leaned his back against it as he tried to catch his breath. "I wasn't expecting anyone to be here." He said defensively. He watched as she laughed, there was genuine mirth in it and before he could stop himself he laughed too.

"I'm sorry." She said as she tried to regain her composer.

"It's one in the morning, what are you doing here?" He said as all kinds of reasons for her late visit started flashing through his mind. "Is something wr…"

"Everything's fine." she cut him off. "And it wasn't one in the morning when I got here."

She watched a blush crept onto his face. "You've been here... waiting?"

She nodded her head at him as she went back into the living room, taking the same seat on the couch that she had been on for the last 3 hours. "Where's Jane?"

"Clubbing." He took a seat on the other end of the couch and stretched his legs out in front of him.

"Clubbing!" she looked at him shocked. "You went clubbing too?"

"Yeah… it's not really my cup of tea." His voice told her more about his thoughts on it than the statement.

"Mine either." She confessed. "Do you know when she will be home?"

"I don't…" he leaned his head back onto the back of the couch. "I can tell you that she's probably not going to be fit to rationally talk to you when she gets home."

"I should probably go home then." She said, but she didn't move to leave. He turned his head to look at her. She looked like she had come straight from work, and she looked tired.

"You can stay with me if you want." Her head snapped around to pin him in a stare of disbelief. "Not... like that." He said defensively. "There's a spare room upstairs that no one uses. You can sleep there if you want." He turned his head back and settled it back on the couch, closing his eyes.

She took a few minutes to think of her reply and she watched him closely those few minutes. He looked relaxed again. Sitting with his head leaned back exposing his neck, like had no worries in the world. He closed his eyes like he was completely at ease with her staying here with him. The only sign that he was nervous about her reply was the bobbing of his Adam's apple as he swallowed hard.

"Okay." She said finally. He opened his eyes and looked over at her. His grey eyes pinned her in place as he gave her a smirk.

"Come on," he said standing up and offering her his hand. "I have enough extra pajamas to clothe an army thanks to our shopping trip. You can borrow a pair."


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the slow update guys, I've been in the process of preparing for Hurricane Nate. If any of my readers are going to be affected by the storm, please stay safe. 3**

Chapter Eight.

Honor

It took Draco a moment to figure out what had woke him up. He ran his hand over his face and tried to shake the feeling that something was wrong. He had had a difficult time getting to sleep, knowing that she Hermione was right on the other side of the wall, asleep in a pair of his favorite plaid pajamas and one of his t-shirts made it difficult. He had tossed and turned for a long time before eventually dozing off. The sound of footsteps running up the sidewalk and a man yelling outside pulled him out of his thought grabbing his full attention. He was already out of bed, peeking out the window by the time the door to his room opened softly behind him.

"There's someone out there," Hermione whispered as she tiptoed across the room to him. She got so close to him that he could feel the slight shiver that ran through her as she tried to see what was causing the commotion outside.

"Is Jane home yet?" he whispered back, shifting his gaze to her. Her hair was wild, and he could tell by the imprint of the sheet on her cheek that she had been sleeping hard before the interruption.

"I'm not sure." He could hear the worry in her voice.

"Wait here." He started to the door before turning back to her. "You have your wand?"

She gave a tight nod but didn't turn her attention back to him. He hurried down the hall towards Jane's room. He had never been in there, just peeked in the first day he was here, but tonight he didn't even pause as he turned the knob and stormed into the room. It was empty. Suddenly, the sounds from outside seemed to erupt, leaving him with no doubt where Jane was.

He didn't linger, he just turned and started running up the hallway. Hermione was standing in the door of his room as he passed. "Jane." Is all that he could get out and he could hear her thundering down the stairs behind him as he made it to the front door and snatched it open.

The sounds hit him first. The sound of yelling, the sound of crying, the sound of sirens, people yelling, and then it was the light. Neighbors were outside with flashlights, Jane was in the middle of the small front yard, tears streaming down her face as she tried to stammer out complete sentences. He couldn't make out what she was trying to say, but his gaze was already off of her, falling instead on Garrit's hulking form that was bowed up at her. His yells overpowered anything that the small woman was trying to say, and his body language told him enough to know that if he didn't get her away from him immediately, that he was going to have cause to kill him.

Hermione watched the scene unfold from the doorway. She gripped her wand, knowing that if she did anything with magic that it would have repercussions for Draco more than herself. She felt her heart drop as Gerrit advanced in on Jane's shaking form. Jane herself seemed glued to the spot, unable to move. Neighbors were all around yelling at Gerrit, but no one was coming to her aid. Except for Draco.

"Draco!" Hermione heard herself yell his name, but didn't remember giving herself the command to do it. He was all ready to Jane before she made two steps out the door. He grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind him, putting himself between Gerrit and her. Hermione had never seen the steel that shone out of his grey eyes as he stood tall, shielding Jane behind him. Him moving her away from Gerrit seemed to give her enough courage to start yelling too. She grabbed Draco's arm and tried to pull him away from Gerrit, but Draco stood firm. Hermione stood frozen as the man that had stood by and watched her torture, protected a muggle.

Draco didn't advance on the man but instead stared him down while the larger man glared at him laughing a maniacal laugh that made images of Bellatrix Lestrange flash in her head. With one swift movement, faster than anyone could comprehend, Gerrit's fist was connecting with Draco's jaw. His whole body snapped to the side, but he didn't go down. Hermione felt her stomach turn at the sickening sound of contact. She kept expecting him to fall to his knees, but instead, his own fist brushed the top of the grass as he swung from behind himself to punch Gerrit back. Jane's screaming seemed to stop the second Gerrit hit the ground, not moving. Hermione's legs moved as if of their own accord and she grabbed Draco by the arm and turned him towards her. His lip and nose were bleeding, and he seemed just as shocked at the fact he had knocked Garrit out as everyone else was.

All the noise around them faded out as he looked her in the eyes. There was some sort of underlying emotion that she couldn't read behind those grey eyes that told her that his mind wasn't completely here with what was happening.

"Are you okay?" Her voice was hoarse, and she could hear the tears in her own voice.

He nodded his head and reached up to brush away the tears she didn't know she was shedding with the hand that he didn't just punch Gerrit with. The moment was over in a heartbeat, and his attention was behind him to where Jane was standing. She hugged herself with her arms and tears streaked her cheeks as she looked down at Gerrit with a mixture of fear and revulsion.

Hermione allowed her attention to turn to all the crowd of neighbors around them, and to the flashing lights coming up the road towards them. She could hear Draco muttering and fussing over Jane as she sat on the grass, letting him hold her. Hermione forced herself to look at the two of them. His arms were around her, and she was crying into his shoulder, but even though it was an intimate gesture, she could tell that it wasn't a romantic one. He rested his chin on the top of her head and looked back over at Hermione. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head slightly. She would be alright.

Hermione steeled herself as she turned to the officers that already approaching them.

Kingsley had been pacing the room for the past hour. Hermione wanted nothing more than to be at home; she was mentally and physically exhausted. She had explained what had happened at the house to the muggle police, and Jane explained everything that had happened before they made it back to the house. Apparently, Garrit wasn't a very nice drunk, and he had followed her home when she left him at the club. They didn't show any remorse as Gerrit, who had eventually come to, was handcuffed and put into the back of the officer's vehicle. An ambulance came and Draco was treated for his injuries. A couple broken fingers busted knuckles and busted lip and nose. She had overheard one of them telling the other that they were shocked his jaw was still in one piece.

"He protected the muggle?" Kingsley repeated again. He had said the same statement several times, to which she replied the same answer every time.

"Yes. He did."

Kingsley shook his head and looked at her in shock. "He protected a muggle. Hermione, this is major. He protected a muggle!"

She let a small smile touch her lips, she understood his shock and amazement, but something in Draco's expression when their eyes locked told her that there was so much more to it than just him protecting Jane.

"He's changed." She said simply.

Kingsley stopped his pacing and looked at her. The tenderness in her voice wasn't missed by him as he took in her appearance. She was obviously exhausted, it was the wee hours of the morning. She was sitting in his office in plaid pajama pants and a t-shirt that was way too large for her.

"Why were you there so late?" he kept his voice nonchalant as possible. He knew that what was a curiosity for him would be a weapon against the Malfoy boy for others in the ministry.

Her cheeks reddened. "I had gone to talk to Jane, but she wasn't there. Draco told me that I could stay there to wait for her if I wanted."

Kingsley nodded his head and started pacing again.

"They have a spare room." She added quickly, her cheeks turning a brighter shade of red.

He smiled over at her as she watched him pace. "I don't think Draco Malfoy is the only one that's changed."

Jane felt like she was the one on the receiving end of that blow. Draco set a cup of tea down on the counter in front of her. She had tried to help him, but he kept waving her off. So she was forced to sit and watch him clumsily make tea with his nondominant hand. The other hand was wrapped tightly in gauze. With every fumble he made, the worse she felt.

"I should've seen what a jerk he was." She said again.

He nodded his head and gave her a smirk. "Yeah, he was a jerk."

She looked down at her tea and tried to ignore him watching her.

"I was a jerk once." He said thoughtfully.

"Just once?" she allowed herself to look back up at him. The bruise erupting on the left side of his face looked painful, but he gave her a Cheshire smile anyways.

He let out a low laugh. "More than once…. Maybe."

"Thank you." There was so much that she wanted to tell him, but she couldn't find the words for it. He had done something that few had ever done for her, stood up for her and protected her when she needed someone.

He nodded at her and opened his mouth to say something else to her when a loud pop sounded from the study. They both turned as Hermione came rushing into the kitchen and didn't stop until she had her arms wrapped tightly around Draco, her face buried in his chest. He looked shocked, and it took him a few heartbeats before he wrapped his own arms around her. Jane could tell that she was crying, but she didn't say anything as she stood, taking her tea with her as she tiptoed out of the room, leaving the two of them alone.

Draco didn't know what to say, so he just held her close to him and stroked her hair. He waited for her sobs to subside so that she could tell him what was wrong. He couldn't stop himself from noticing how good it felt to have her against him, despite the wet spot that he could feel growing on his shirt.

"Hermione…" he said quietly. She stiffened slightly in his arms before pulling out of his embrace.

"I'm sorry." She stood in front of him looking embarrassed and uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have…"

"Stop." The gentleness in his voice took even him by surprise, but he didn't show it. He closed the space she created between them and took her chin in his good hand, wiping her tears away with his thumb. She closed her eyes at his touch.

"What you did today…." She started, but he cut her off.

"Is what I should've done when Bellatrix had you." He said. She looked up at him, and saw the torment behind his gaze and recognized it as the unidentified expression from earlier. "I should've torn down the whole manor around us before I allowed her to do what she did you to and I'm…. I'm so sorry Hermione."

Hermione knew that she was gaping at him. He had apologized, and he looked both sincere and… haunted. The torture session with Bellatrix haunted her dreams almost every night, but she had never really thought about what haunted Draco. But with him standing here in front of her, the pain so visible in his eyes she knew, without a doubt, that it was a burden that she didn't carry alone.

"I forgive you." Her voice cracked slightly as a sob tried to escape, but she didn't take her eyes off of him as she said it again. "I forgive you Draco Malfoy."

It was like a weight had been lifted off of him. She could see his eyes lighten some and his shoulders seemed to straighten as the weight of his guilt released some of its hold on him.

"I don't deserve it." he said quietly, "But thank you." He pulled her back to him, holding her close. She ran her hand up and down his back, sending a shiver down his spine. She allowed him to hold her for a few minutes before she finally spoke again.

"Kingsley gave me permission to heal you." She said quietly.

"Really?" He felt her nod into his chest. "I didn't think that he liked me that much."

"I think you're growing on him," she said pulling out of his embrace again and pulling her wand out of the pajama bottoms pocket _. Did she go to talk to the Minister of Magic in his pajamas?_

She made fast work of it and he was back to normal in seconds. He flexed his hand for her as he watched her watch the movement. She reached up and took his hand in hers and smiled at it. She traced the lines in his palms with a thin finger and ran her thumb over his knuckles. "It seems to be in working order then."

He saw her flit her gaze towards the stairs before looking back at him.

"It is." He said, "You can still stay tonight if you want." He held his breath as he hoped that he wasn't misreading her.

She smiled up at him. "Good. The bed here is so much more comfortable than the one at my apartment." Her voice was so light-hearted, that it was hard to believe that she was crying so recently.

He let out a laugh as he laced his fingers in hers and led her up the stairs. She went back to the room that she was in earlier and stood in front of the door.

"Goodnight Draco." She whispered back up the hall to him, before she went into the room closed the door behind her.

Draco smirked as he went into his own room. "Goodnight Hermione." He said as he laid down in his own bed and went right to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter Nine.

Post

Hermione wasn't sure what to do. She had been awake for over an hour and could hear Draco and Jane moving about in the house, but she wasn't sure what to do. The night before after she had gone over what had happened to Kingsley he had told her that he didn't think that she was the same person either. That just like Draco, she was changing. The easy friendship that she had with Harry and Ron was her foundation, but it was just that… a foundation to grow on. He made the point that she was growing into her own person, and that person was kind, forgiving and cared for, even by the people that she least expected. She had rushed back here with the thoughts of talking to Draco, but somehow, that talk had not gone the way that she had thought. She expected to show up and just talk to him in a civil manner. Instead, she had practically assaulted him the second that she apparated into the study, and even though he hadn't seemed to mind, she was so embarrassed. _Do I just go downstairs and pretend that it isn't weird that I'm here?_

An amazing smell started to waft into her room from downstairs and she buried her face in her pillow, trying to ignore it, but it eventually won out. Getting out of bed she made the bed up the muggle way, she wasn't going to risk using magic in the house, not when there was the chance of Draco getting blamed for it in the next review meeting. She stopped by the bathroom long enough to wash her face and dampen her hair slightly, trying to tame the excessive fuzziness. It didn't help as much as she had hoped, but she didn't have any other option but to go downstairs and face her hosts.

She could hear Draco and Jane's voices as she paused at the top of the stairs. She didn't want to eavesdrop, but she wanted to know if they thought it was as weird for her to be there as she felt it was, so she waited to descend, and listened.

"Why do you think it's weird?" She heard Jane say, Hermione felt her stomach sink at the question.

"You would've had to been there to understand," Draco said.

"Well, I wasn't there… so you're going to have to explain it to me." Jane's irritation told Hermione that they had been going back and forth with this conversation for a while now. "You like her but you think that it would be too weird?"

"I was horrible to her, Jane," Draco said. At his tone, Hermione could almost see him run his hand through his hair in frustration "I was more than horrible, I was nothing short of an ass. I called her filth and slurs. She's Muggle-born and I was raised to think I was better than that. I didn't really feel that way towards her, but I had to act that way towards her. If I hadn't my family would have gone after her, and I didn't want that to happen either."

"She will understand that," Jane said, her tone kinder this time.

"She's already forgiven me for standing by while she was being tortured. There's only so much forgiveness that I can ask for." The pain in his voice made Hermione's breath catch in her throat.

"You can't tell her what she can and can't forgive you for. Draco, you've changed so much. You're not the same person that you were and you can't keep carrying around all these burdens. The past is the past, it's time to move on…and if you care for Hermione Granger, then you should care for her and stop worrying about what everyone else is going to think."

The pounding of her heart in her ears made it impossible to hear his response. Hermione leaned against the wall and closed her eyes. _If you care for Hermione Granger, then you should care for her and stop worrying about what everyone else is going to think… Did he care for her?_ She took a few deep breaths trying to catch her breath before she steeled herself and started down the stairs. She made sure the stairs squeaked under her steps so that they would know that she was coming, and tried to school her features into those of someone who hadn't overheard their conversation.

"Good morning!" Jane practically sang at her as she entered the room.

"Morning." Hermione lingered at the door unsure what she needed to do. The two of them were practically in a dance of preparing food, serving food, making coffee, she wasn't sure where to go that wouldn't be in their way. Draco seeming to sense her hesitation and set down the plate he was holding to pull out one of the stools and offer it to her. "You sleep well?" he asked as she sat down.

"Very well." She said, and it wasn't a lie. The bed was amazing compared to the one that she had in her own small apartment, and knowing that she wasn't in the house alone seemed to ease her enough to sleep soundly and without nightmares. "Thank you, both, for letting me stay last night."

"Anytime!" Jane said as she came over to set a plate of eggs, toast, bacon, and fruit in front of her. "We love having the company, don't we Draco?"

"Yes, we do." Hermione smiled a little color flooded his cheeks before he came over to give her a cup of coffee.

Jane sat next to her and pushed a container of creamer over towards her. Jane's plate wasn't overflowing like Hermione's but instead just had one piece of plain toast on it, and she was holding her coffee mug as if it was providing more comfort than warmth.

"Are you alright?" Hermione asked.

Jane looked over at her and before she could put her brave mask on, Hermione saw the flash of the truth about other woman's feelings in her eyes. Jane nodded but didn't say anything further.

Draco watched the two women with concern. He knew that Jane was going to need time to get over the events of last night, but he was glad that he was there to prevent her from getting hurt. He had tried to coax her thoughts on the situation out as soon as she entered the kitchen, but she had just shut him down saying that she just wanted to pretend that it hadn't happened. After that, she had seemed happy to dote on him and his feelings for Hermione instead. He wished that she would just talk about how she was feeling because he wasn't sure how to voice how he was feeling. Last night had taken him completely by surprise. He had never held Hermione before. When they were shopping she had touched his arm, and even pulled him up by his hand and held it for a few minutes, but it was platonic and he knew that. Last night she was flush against him, her face buried in his chest and he had held her. There was nothing platonic about that embrace, and it had just felt….right.

He chanced a glance over at her. She was nibbling on her toast and talking to Jane. Jane seemed a little uncomfortable with the conversation, but Hermione's kindness and concern shone through as she got Jane to open up a bit about what had happened last night. He figured it helped that Hermione had been with Jane when she talked to the police, he was stuck in the ambulance getting his jaw and hand seen about and hadn't heard the first-hand account of the events. Draco stayed quiet as he watched them, he didn't want to interrupt the two of them and he knew that Jane needed to talk about it or it would eat at her. He couldn't help but to smile as Hermione pulled Jane into a hug, and Jane looked like she was feeling better already, she stole some of the fruit off of Hermione's plate and that movement in itself told him that she was going to be alright. He liked the thought of the two of them being friends too. Jane was like the friend that he had never had, and he liked thinking that she approved of Hermione.

"I'm going to go check the post." He said as he strolled out of the kitchen. He could feel both of their eyes on his back as he left the room, but he willed himself not to look over his shoulder at them. He was positive that Jane was going to meddle, and not wanting to walk back into that meddling he took his time outside. He checked the flowerbeds to make sure that the weeds hadn't started to come back yet, and made sure that there were no caterpillars on the vegetable plants before he checked the box. They had a lot more mail than usual, but there was one large envelope in particular that caught his eye. Sorting it to the top of the pile he read his name and the address of the house in the familiar handwriting of his mother. He took a deep breath, excited to see post from his mother, but also wondering if the thickness of the envelope was because she had heard about the events of last night. He shook his head as he went back in the house, reminding himself that muggle post didn't run that quickly, and anything in the large envelope wouldn't have to do with that.

When he went back in the kitchen he could tell that meddling had occurred. Jane looked overly satisfied with herself and Hermione blushed at the sight of him. He could feel his own cheeks redden as he set the rest of the mail on the counter in front of Jane and held up the envelope for the two of them to see.

"You got post?" Jane looked over at Hermione and raised her eyebrow.

Hermione smiled but kept her gaze on him.

"I talked to Kingsley a while back about getting your mother to try harder at the muggle lifestyle." She shrugged her shoulders a little. "If she started giving it more effort then she would be allowed to send post to you or whoever else that she wanted."

"It seems that she's been doing better then." He laughed as he showed the thickness of the envelope.

"She really has." Hermione gave a sincere smile as Jane started to cull through her own pile of letters. She paused on one official looking letter and shot Hermione a look.

She waited until she thought Draco was well involved with reading the novel sized letter his mother had sent him before she leaned over and showed the envelope to Hermione. Hermione's eyebrows furrowed. "The ministry?" she whispered and Jane nodded. Jane opened the letter and held it up so that both of them could read it at the same time.

When Draco looked up from his mothers note he saw both women reading an official-looking letter. He recognized the ministry's seal on the discarded envelope next to Hermione's plate, and his blood instantly ran cold. He lowered his mother's letter and watched them as they read, and by the time that they turned the parchment over to the other side the color had drained out of both of their faces.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter Ten

The Kiss

The girls had tried to keep the note from him but he knew that something was off with their reactions. Still, he had practically had to fight them to get it and with the slightly crumpled paper tightly in his grasp he had read the news that he knew would eventually come, but the news he wasn't sure how to process at the same time.

Miss Jane Sharpe,

We, at the Ministry of Magic, thank you for your loyal friendship and your selfless assistance during the span of Mr. Draco Malfoy's rehabilitation. You are giving up a part of your life to ensure the success of our world, and for that, we are in your debt. While you were probably aware that Mr. Malfoy's parents also underwent investigation, we have written you today to inform you the final verdict of his father, Mr. Lucius Malfoy, has been determined. Mr. L. Malfoy underwent trial some time ago but due to overwhelming evidence surrounding Mr. Malfoy, a verdict was unable to be found until yesterday. It is with our regrets to inform that Mr. Lucius Malfoy will be scheduled to receive the Dementor's Kiss in one weeks time.

We write you today so that you can inform your charge of this verdict, and we at the ministry would like to invite Mr. Draco Malfoy to visit his father before the scheduled kiss is to occur.

Yours truly,

Kingsley Shacklebolt

Minister of Magic

Both of the women stood silent while he read and reread the letter, he could tell that they were both braced for him to lose his temper, but instead, all he did was fold the letter back up the best that he could and set it gently on the counter. He had known that his father wouldn't get off with the same punishment as his mother and him, and he knew that he would receive the kiss. This was all information that he _knew_ was going to happen, but seeing it on paper, signed and sealed by none other than the minister of magic…. He was numb. He turned on his heel and walked back up the stairs to his room, and shut the door behind him.

Hermione knew that Draco wasn't alright. He had been locked in his room all day and hadn't even come out to eat lunch. Jane had made him a sandwich all the same and took it up to his room, he didn't open the door, but at some point, he had collected the tray that she left outside of his door.

"What should we do?" Jane asked as she popped a chicken into the oven to bake. Hermione hadn't had the heart to leave when everything was so out of sorts, so she had jumped in and helped Jane cook. Cooking the muggle way had always been relaxing for her, and helping Jane reminded her of cooking with her mother.

"I think he just needs some space," Hermione said, but she wasn't confident that is what he needed. She wasn't upset at all at the knowledge that Lucius Malfoy would be receiving the dementors kiss. He had been a cruel man, not just to muggle-borns like her but also to his own wife and son. At the same time, he was Draco's father, and she couldn't imagine what he had to be feeling knowing that his father would be receiving a fate worse than death. "He wouldn't open the door for you earlier?" Jane didn't say anything, but instead just shook her head sadly. Hermione sighed, "Let me go try."

Hermione put down the knife that she had been using to cut potatoes and washed her hands. She took her time with it, she doubted that he would be more receptive to her and she wasn't sure what she could say to make what was going to happen to his father easier for him. Sighing again, she steeled herself and went upstairs.

She stood outside of his room for a second, unsure still what she was going to say to him, but she knocked all the same.

"Draco?" she said to the closed door. "It's Hermione…. Can I come in?"

There was no reply. She leaned her forehead against the cool wood of the door and knocked lightly on the door again. "Draco, you can't clam up in there. Talk to me…. Please, I'm your friend." She didn't know what possessed her to say that. She had spent little time with him since his rehabilitation started, and he'd never been a friend at Hogwarts, but she knew that the statement was true all the same. She saw him as a friend now, and he was hurting, and that was a thought that she couldn't stand.

"Come in." a quiet voice replied from the other side of the door. She opened the door and stepped inside the room with him.

He was sitting on the edge of his bed, it was perfectly made around him making her think that he'd been sitting in the same spot for most of the day. He had his window cracked, and the light breeze coming in from outside ruffled his hair slightly. She smiled a little at the sight of him and instantly felt guilty about it. He looked so sad as he stared out the window, not even turning to her when she shut the door behind her.

"Draco?" she hovered by the door, unsure what to say or do now that she was in the room with him.

He turned slowly to look at her, "I'm not going to bite, you know."

"I know that." She crossed the room and sat down next to him. He turned to look back out the window.

"Want to talk about it?" He could tell by her voice that she was afraid he was angry and nervous that he was going to take that anger out on her. The truth was he was glad his father wasn't going to be free in the world anymore. The man wasn't to be trusted, and he was horrible to everyone that crossed his path. He hadn't even spared his wife and his only son from his scheming, and it had nearly cost all of them their lives.

"Am I a good person?" He had formed the question in his mind and that wasn't how it was supposed to come out, but it was the way that it came out all the same. He turned to look at her and could almost see the gears moving in her head. He imagined her reminiscing all the times that he had called her filth, mudblood, or made a nasty remark about her appearance. He could see the times that her face fell due to his words, and the tears that would line her eyes as she hurried away from him. He looked down at his hands and answered before she could. "No… I'm not."

"Draco… I didn't say that you weren't…" she started, but he cut her off.

"It doesn't matter what you say though." He looked back up at her, she was so beautiful and good… and he was a Malfoy. Not even just the son of a Death Eater, but a Death Eater himself. He had aligned himself with Voldemort. Someone who would have murdered her just to clean the world of her bloodline. Someone as selfless, and perfect as Hermione Granger, dead just because he didn't like her parentage. The thought made Draco feel sick to the stomach. "You can offer me forgiveness, but it doesn't change who or what I am. I'm Draco Malfoy, a stain on the wizarding world. The Death Eater shipped off to live with Muggles, just so that the ministry can say that they tried to fix me."

"No… that's…" He held up a hand to stop her.

"I'm not a good person, Hermione. My father's going to receive a fate worse than death, and I'm not upset about it. I don't even have a little bit of remorse to the fact that he's going to be gone from this world… I don't care about him." He stopped and looked out the window again, he was so disgusted with himself that he couldn't even look at her. "My own father and I don't care. I'm just as much of a monster as he is."

"Draco Malfoy." The anger in her voice shocked him. He turned back to her to see silent tears falling down her cheeks, but they weren't sad tears, they were angry ones. "You. Are. Not. Your. Father." The force behind her words knocked the wind out of him. "You defied your father and his cause when you wouldn't identify Harry at the manor. You defied your father and his cause when you refused to go to Voldemort, and instead went to your mother. You defied your father and his cause when you agreed to come here and live without magic for a year. You defy your father every day that you wake up, get dressed in muggle clothing, and cook like a muggle and live like a muggle. You are not your father, your father would rather get the kiss than to learn to be a better person."

She reached out and took his hand in hers. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she had read the records of his father's trial, the things that that man had said about Narcissa and Draco, it was completely horrifying. "They offered him the same rehabilitation that they offered you and your mother. You and your mother chose to be better people, to live and learn a new way of life, but he refused it. He refused when you didn't. You are not Lucius… You are Draco. You were a misguided child that has grown into a wonderful person that I am proud to know. I…" her voice broke as she looked at the shock on his face.

He looked like someone that had never had a kind word spoken to him before. Tears silently fell down his cheeks, and his mouth was parted in shock. She couldn't stand it, knowing that the boy who had made her life a living hell for years acted that way because it was how he was treated at home. The boy that everyone thought was a king, was only a pawn in a very dangerous game. That he grew up not cared for and loved like she was, instead he was used and discarded the second that he was no longer useful. She couldn't stand knowing that he thought so little of himself that he would compare himself to that monster of a man who fathered him, and she couldn't stop herself when she leaned forward and touched his lips with hers.

He froze instantly. She was kissing him. It wasn't an overbearing kiss, and it only lasted a few heartbeats, but it had happened. Hermione Granger had kissed him. When she leaned back he expected her to run from the room, realizing what she had done. Instead, she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her. Hugging him tight she ran her fingers up and down his back lightly. He allowed himself to relax into her embrace, he allowed himself to feel cared for in that moment and when he tucked his head into her neck his resolve broke, and he wept.

Jane had heard the door open and close upstairs, and she knew that Draco had let Hermione in. She didn't hear raised voices, so she assumed that was a good sign. She had finished dinner, cleaned all the dishes that she could and had served everyone a plate, but there was still no sign of the two others. She had sat alone at the counter and realized that this silence was her life for the 2 years before Draco had come to live with her. She had friends, but not the kind that came over to hang out, and she wasn't overly social since her parents had died. Voldemort had destroyed her family, and all she had left was her uncle, who was gone on business more often than he was in town. Her uncle had paid for her childhood home and set her up with a good allowance, she usually worked in shops to get out of the house but had quit the last one when she made the decision to host Draco. After her parents, and before him, she had always cooked alone, eaten alone, and cleaned alone. The silence had never bothered her but after becoming accustomed to Draco there with her, she felt the heaviness of silence weighing on her like never before. She pushed the chicken and potatoes around on her plate but didn't take a bite, and she listened upstairs for any sign that Hermione would be coming back down the stairs to join her. At last, she heard the door open and the sounds of footsteps coming down the stairs, two sets of footsteps. She felt elated when Hermione and Draco both came into the kitchen to join her.

She could tell that they both had been crying, but she didn't let on that she could tell. Instead, she tried to be helpful, she got up and set their plates in front of the other two stools and started brewing more tea.

"I'm sorry," Draco said from behind her. He was sitting on his usual stool and looking down at his dinner. "I shouldn't have stormed off like that. Especially after last…"

"It's fine." Jane cut in. "Last night wasn't good, but it isn't on the same level as the news about your father."

She saw him wince a little and regretted instantly saying it out loud.

"About that…" he said, she could see how uncomfortable he was with the topic, but she also saw Hermione reach over and take his hand in hers. The gesture seemed enough comfort for him to continue. "I don't want to go see my father, before…" he paused and took a deep breath "Before his sentence is carried out. He wasn't a good man to anyone, especially not me, and I don't want to see him again."

She forced herself not to furrow her eyebrows. She would give just about anything to see her parents one last time, but for him not to even want to say goodbye, Lucius Malfoy must have been worse in person than any description of him on paper could portray.

"I can respect that." She said finally, "I'll send a note back to the Minister and let him know your decision."

Draco nodded and picked up his fork with his free hand and started eating his dinner. Hermione accepted the cup of tea that Jane offered her but didn't let go of his hand. Jane smiled a little to herself at the two of them, they were getting along beautifully and she knew that someone like Hermione was exactly what Draco needed in his life.

"I can take the note with me into work tomorrow," Hermione said, her voice was a little strained as if the thought of going to work the next day wasn't high her list of things to do.

"You're going to work tomorrow?" Draco's voice was strained as well as if the thought of her going to work the next day wasn't high on his list of things to happen either.

Jane chose to ignore the tension between them and merely said, "I'll write up the response then." With that, she took a big bite of her potatoes and left the kitchen for the study.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven.

Realizations

The Ministry of Magic bustled more than usual as Hermione Granger hurried across the atrium hand in hand with Narcissa Malfoy. Neither woman wanted to draw attention to themselves, so they kept their heads down and tried to pass as unnoticed as possible. Everyone scheduled for the Dementor's Kiss had been scheduled for their visit that day, followed immediately with their sentence and it seemed that not everyone in the magical community was happy about it either. While most of the crowd was Ministry workers, family members coming to visit and the extra Aurors brought in for heightened security, some of the crowd were people demonstrating.

"What are they doing?" Narcissa said as they dropped their heads lower and hurried past the crowd of angry people.

"They're not happy about the Death Eaters getting to say goodbye to their family members when they didn't get to say goodbye to their family members the Death Eaters killed." Hermione said. She knew that it was as good as slapping Narcissa across the face to admit this so bluntly, but she couldn't shield the woman from the crude comments getting thrown in their direction, so she didn't try to pretend that it was something that it wasn't. Hermione had always thought that at the end of the war that everyone would be ready to move on from all the hate, but it seemed that all the hate just got moved to new outlets.

"Do they realize how difficult this really is?" Narcissa whispers into Hermione's ear as she squeezes her hand tight.

"I don't think that they care." Hermione gave the demonstrators a harsh glare as they approached the lift that was supposed to take them down to the visitation wing.

The lift was magically barricaded off from the others in the atrium and had two guards on either side of it. As soon as they made it across the barrier the guards ushered them into the lift, and everything went silent as soon as the doors closed behind them. Both women took a deep breath, but for different reasons. Hermione had been dreading this day since the letter had been delivered to Jane and Draco's house two weeks ago. She wholeheartedly believed that Lucius Malfoy deserved the outcome of his trial, the list of war crimes had been so extensive that they had had to take extra time just to go over everything. It made her stomach turn to think of how many times those crimes and offenses were against his own son. She had held Draco while he cried it out, and she didn't ask him any questions because she didn't know what to ask. His whole life had been controlled and misdirected by his own family, and the people that were supposed to care for and protect him threw him to the most evil wizard in recent history. Poor Narcissa wasn't much better off, it seemed that shortly after the Dark Lord's return she realized what was happening and went on the offensive to keep her son safe, but it was really too late to save Draco at that point. Still, those actions were the only reason that she wasn't here today scheduled for a kiss herself. Hermione glanced over at the other woman and saw that she looked pale and slightly green. She reached out and took Narcissa's hand again giving it a small reassuring squeeze.

"You sure about this?" Hermione asked.

Narcissa looked over at her and nodded her head slightly. "He made horrible decisions… but it wasn't all horrible."

Hermione was the one to nod now. She knew that she didn't know Lucius like Narcissa did, but she wasn't a strong enough person to try to find the good that might be in him. Instead, the vision of the Dark Mark burned into Draco's flesh flashed in through her mind. No… Lucius wasn't going to have her pity at all.

The lift opened and Harry Potter and Kingsley Shacklebolt stepped forward to collect them. Narcissa froze slightly at the sight of the two men, but Harry gave her a kind smile and offered her his arm. She took it, but Hermione could see the tension showing in her shoulders as Harry led her down the hall towards the room that held her doomed husband. Kingsley fell into step next to Hermione and watched Narcissa walking on the arm of the boy that she lied to Voldemort for. She was wearing a beautiful green dress in a muggle fashion, he never in his life thought that he would see a Malfoy dressed in such a way, but it suited her. She looked healthier than he had seen her look in a long time, and despite the obvious fear of seeing her husband, she was holding her composure quite well. After anazlying the Malfoy woman in front of him, he turned his attention to Hermione. He could tell that she was nervous for the other woman, something that not everyone would've been able to be. Hermione had been able to hold onto her empathy during the war and he was glad to see that she cared enough about Narcissa Malfoy to show remorse for her loss, even if she wasn't going to miss Lucius herself.

"How is Draco doing?" Kingsley asked her. He watched as she closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath before answering.

"He's handling it about as well as can be expected." Hermione said, "He didn't want to come say goodbye." She glanced up at Kingsley with a sadness in her eyes. "I'm worried that him not getting this closure is going to hurt him in the long run, but I couldn't make him come today either."

Kingsley heard the sadness in her voice and chose not to comment that she was the person over his case and she could have made him come if she had really wanted to. Hermione wasn't the kind of person to force anyone to do anything like that though, and it was one of the qualities that set her apart from other others in her department. It was also one of the reasons that he had chosen her to be over Draco and Narcissa's cases. He, of course, threw other cases in her file too, but the two Malfoy's had been manipulated and used their whole lives and they needed someone kind-hearted and empathetic to help guide them back into the world. He had to say that he was pleased with the results so far.

"You're worried about him?" Kingsley asked her.

A ghost of a smile touched her lips before she answered. If he hadn't been watching her so closely he would've missed it, but he was watching her that closely and didn't miss it.

"Of course I worry about him… I'm his caseworker." She added the last part of her sentence like an afterthought and he didn't miss the color that came into her cheeks.

Harry and Narcissa paused in front of a plain wooden door. Hermione could see other Aurors lining the long hall outside of closed doors. She knew that they were monitoring other visitors that were with their condemned family members as well. She had known that there were quite a few of them to be punished, but the number of people lining the corridor and the number of closed doors made her feel like she had swallowed a large stone. _So many people condemned. So many lives forever changed._

Narcissa looked back at Hermione, and she could see the fear in the older woman's eyes. She stepped forward and took her hand. "It's going to be alright. No matter what happens in there, you have people that care about you."

Narcissa swallowed hard, "Will you wait here for me?"

Shock flashed on both of the men's faces, but Hermione's attention was only on Narcissa. "Of course. I'll be right here." She stepped forward to give Narcissa a hug before Narcissa took a deep breath, put on a mask of indifference and nodded at Harry to open the door. Without another word, she stepped through and it was closed behind her.

Jane watched Draco carefully as he watched the clock, he had been watching the clock all day, and he was unusually zoned out from conversation so she had given up trying to talk to him and resigned herself to just being there in case he needed her. The time for his father's visitation had came and went. Hermione had told her that his mother was going to say goodbye to her husband and that she would come over as soon as she had his mother back at home. Like Jane, Hermione knew the fact about Draco too, the fact that even though he had said that he didn't want to say goodbye to his father, that there was a part of him deep down that very much wanted to see his father again. Draco sighed and ran his hand through his hair again, he had done this so much throughout the day that his normally neat hair was tousled and wavy. Jane would say that the look suited him if it weren't for the tension around his mouth and eyes. He looked like he had aged a decade in span of a few hours.

"You want to go out and do something?" Jane tried to make her voice light, but it still held some of the weight that she was feeling.

"Hermione will be here soon," Draco said without looking at her.

"Yes…. But we can leave her a note to meet us." Jane said walking over to where he was leaned back on the counter. "Come on… the only time that you've been out of the house was the disaster night of clubbing and when we went shopping. Let's get out of here and do something."

"What's there to do?" He still didn't turn to look at her, but his voice held a level of curiosity that told her that she might just be able to get him out of the house for a while.

"We could go out for lunch instead of making something here." She glanced up at the clock to check the time, and confirmed that it was close enough to lunch time to go out to eat. "I know a great restaurant in town that you're going to love."

He tore his eyes off the clock and turned his grey gaze on her. She could see the pain behind the mask that he was wearing. "Maybe another day," he said, she could tell that he was trying hard to keep himself under control. "I'm really not hungry."

"Yeah, rain check." She mumbled and turned to go back into the living room.

"Jane…"

The level of pleading in his voice made her stop instantly and look back over her shoulder at him. He looked broken, just like he had right after Mr. Weasley had taken his magic from him. "I'm sorry… I…"

"It's okay, Draco." She said and meant it.

She had barely made it back into the living room when the sound of a pop came from the study. Hermione came through the door and gave her a look that told her that the day had gone about as well as they both had expected.

"You okay?" Jane asked her, and Hermione started to nod but stopped herself. She closed her eyes as if she was reliving the morning all over again and then shook her head. Jane walked closer to the other woman and gave her a reassuring hug. "I'm sorry."

"How is he?" Hermione asked.

"About as well as can be expected," Jane answered. "He's been staring at the clock most of the day and hasn't eaten a lot."

Hermione nodded and started towards the kitchen. Jane knew that they both needed some time. She had never seen a Dementor, but she had heard about them. She had also heard about all the backlash the ministry was getting for using their services, they had supported Voldemort after all. She let a shutter run through her at the thought and decided to go get lunch for everyone, since she knew that none of them were going to want to cook.

Hermione paused by the doorway and watched him. He was leaned back against the kitchen counter, staring at the clock. His short-sleeved button-up had the top few buttons undone, and his blue jeans fit him perfectly. Her eyes lingered on the Dark Mark on his left arm, and noted that he had finally stopped trying to hide it all the time. He was barefooted and his hair was a wavy mess on the top of his head. It took him a few minutes to feel her stare and look over at her. As soon as he saw her expression his expression softened. He didn't say anything as he stood and came over, wrapping her up in his arms. She allowed him to hold her as she was the one to break down this time.

"I'm so sorry." She said into his chest and he just shooshed her. She could feel him kiss the top of her head.

"There's nothing for you to be sorry about." He whispered.

"I know it's not my fault, but…" she stopped herself. She couldn't tell him the details, about how his father kept a brave face until he saw the Dementors. She couldn't tell him how he had begged and screamed for his son, or how Narcissa had fainted before the kiss was complete. She couldn't tell him the horror of what she had witnessed and how the whole time it was happening she couldn't stop from thinking that Harry was the only reason Draco wasn't set for the same fate.

"Hermione…" he pulled her away from him to look at her in the face. "I've seen a Dementor's kiss before… I know." He looked her in the eyes and Hermione had the sensation that he could see into her very being in that moment.

Her tears seemed to be renewed as he pulled her back to him and kept whispering how it was alright, how it was over, and how his father had deserved it, into the top of her hair. She couldn't stop herself from thinking that deserved or not, the act itself was something that Voldemort would have done, and it didn't set well with her to think that the new order was making the same mistakes over again _. There had to be a better way._


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve

Changes

Jane rushed down the stairs in a flurry of confusion.

"I'm late!" she yelled at the open door of the study as she rushed to put on her coat and hat. The weather had finally started to cool down enough to allow her to layer her favorite accessories and she was taking full advantage of it.

"It's your first day." Draco drawled lazily from the study's open door. He leaned on the door frame and still holding the book he had been reading. "I'm not sure that a good start." He teased and raised an eyebrow at her.

"It's not!" she snapped at him as she grabbed her purse and started digging into its depths, looking for her car keys. "They're not here." She panicked, but Draco had already closed his book, crossed the room and retrieved the keys off of the end table on the other side of the living room. He walked back to her calmly and held them up for her. She closed her eyes and took a couple really deep breaths before taking them from him.

"You're going to do fine," he said, putting his hands on her shoulders and looking at her closely. She was dressed to impress in a professional style muggle dress. Her coat and hat matched both her dress, purse and the impossibly high heels that he wasn't sure how muggle women walked in without breaking their ankles.

"You really think so?" she looked up at him with the expression of someone out of their element. He had spent enough time in the Dark Lord's presence to sympathize with that feeling. Luckily, Jane wasn't in service to the darkest wizard in recent history though. She was just starting her new position with the Ministry of Magic's newest department, The Magical Cooperation for Muggle and Squib Relations, MCMSR for short. He thought that the name was ridiculous, but the department itself was a good addition to the ministry's roster. It was about time that the magical world started allowing the Squib and Muggle relatives of Witches and Wizards to have some more say in the way that things went. He knew that just because a Squib married a muggle didn't mean that their children wouldn't have magical abilities.

"I know so." He reassured her. "I mean, not everyone gets approached for a job without even applying. You're going to do great."

"They only asked me because you're doing so well here. I'm not sure that's a true testament to anything I'm doing because you've been so cooperative." She fidgetted with the keys in her hands, and glanced looked at her watch again.

Draco couldn't help himself but laugh. "Trust me, being in the ministry you'll get to hear about who I was before all this." He gestured to the room around them. "You're going to find out just what a testament it is that I've been cooperative for you."

She smiled a little and nodded. "Thanks." She gave him a quick hug and then rushed out the front door.

Draco watched the door close behind her and turned to look at the empty house around him. The last time that he had been alone in the house was the night of the doomed clubbing trip, and that didn't really count since as soon as he stepped inside the house he had found Hermione there waiting for him. Resigning himself for a quiet day he went to the kitchen for snacks and settled in for a long day.

Hermione rushed up the hallway, her mind running a mile a minute as she tried to mentally sort the paperwork that she knew was waiting for her in her office. She had a nightmare of a mess since one of her cases refused to touch anything that he deemed beneath him. Which, unfortunately, seemed to be everything. She had tried just about everything to try to convince the man to start embracing the muggle lifestyle, but it wasn't working and the board was pushing to have him sent to Azkaban since he wasn't willing to work with his host at all.

She was rushing forward, rummaging through her briefcase when she ran into someone. Sending both her and the other person sprawling out on the floor of the atrium. She was already apologizing when she looked up and saw Jane getting to her feet and apologizing as well.

"I'm sorry!" Hermione said as she flicked her wand and straightened out Jane's dress and hair from where the fall had disheveled them. "I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"It's alright," Jane said looking down at a sheet of paper in her hand. She looked slightly defeated. "I'm so late already, and I can't find where I'm supposed to be."

Hermione looked down to see a map of the building, but like all things, in the magical world it wasn't still like a Muggle map would have been, but instead seemed to be moving and flashing with the names of the different departments, their offices, and the ever-changing set up of the offices and labels and names.

"MCMSR?" Hermione asked. She had heard that Jane had been offered a position in the new department, but hadn't heard if she had accepted it yet. The meeting about Draco's case was an uproar over the fact that his host would be leaving him alone during the day to come to the ministry to work. Hermione left work that day more than happy to have Kingsley on her side. Without him, Jane would've never got the job offer at all, and even though she was Draco's host, this job was still a great opportunity for her. Draco wouldn't be living with her forever.

"Yeah." She sighed and looked down at the map again. Hermione caught a glimpse of two rooms on the fifth floor flashing read with warning labels on them.

"Come on… I'll show you where you need to go." Hermione said, and the two women set off across the atrium towards the proper lift.

After depositing Jane off with her new boss and explaining her tardiness, Hermione had rushed off to her office to start sorting through her workload, but her mind kept wandering to Draco. She kept wondering what the man was doing. Did he have enough in the kitchen for a decent lunch? Or, she wondered if he was bored. She knew that he still wasn't over the loss of his father and the conflicting emotions that he had about the man still plagued him as well. Not able to stand it anymore, she sorted through the most important of her work and left the rest for another day. Making sure that everything was in order, she stood and taking a deep breath, she apparated.

As soon as she materialized in the study she knew that something was off. The whole house was dark, and it was the middle of the day… it shouldn't be dark. Pulling her wand out of her jacket pocket she stepped forward out of the study to see all the curtains were drawn and that the tv was on. Draco was sprawled out on the sofa, under a large blanket and she could smell popcorn. He wiped his eyes quickly before looking at her.

"This movie… sucked!" he said with conviction. "I'll never let you go," he said in an imitation of a woman's voice and mimed holding onto someone, and then he just opened his hands. "She. Let. Go." He looked over at Hermione with true shock and horror on his face. "And there was room for both of them! She didn't have to chuck him off into the damn ocean!"

Taking another look at the television she recognized the music from the end credits of Titanic and burst into a fit of laughter. "Seriously?" She asked pointing at him to the tv.

"Seriously!" he barked back as he fished the remote out from under the blanket that he was covered in and turned the tv off with it. Hermione laughed as she flipped on the lights and went to sit on the other end of the couch with him. He drew his legs up for her to sit but stretched back out for them to set in her lap as soon as she was seated. She gathered up the blanket and pulled it to where it was covering her legs as well as his.

"I ran into Jane at the ministry. She was hopelessly lost." She looked over at him to see that he wasn't wearing a shirt. She tried to make her eyes look at his face, but she couldn't help herself but admire the sculpted bare chest sitting across from her.

"You help her find the department?" Draco was reading the back of a soda bottle, he was so intent on it that it looked like he was memorizing the ingredients. She still felt a blush creep onto her face as he gave one of his signature smirks, he knew that she was looking.

"Of course I did. I'm not sure who's idea it was to give the muggles a magical map, but those poor souls are in for a culture shock today." They both laughed as they imagined of what could be happening inside of MCMSR today. "You going to hole up in here and watch romances films all day?" She reached down to where the bowl of popcorn was sitting and grabbed a few pieces. She popped a few in her mouth and threw the others at him.

"I don't have anything else to do," Draco said as he cut his eyes up to hers. There was no malice in his statement, but she could hear an undertone of sadness.

"Let's go do something…" She said.

He raised an eyebrow at her, "And what are we going to go do?" he asked.

"I don't know… muggle stuff." She answered as she pushed his feet off of her lap, making him sit up in the process. "Go get changed. Today, you're not going to sit around here moping and watching sappy romances like a little old lady."

He laughed as he stood, stretching his arms over his head. Hermione felt her breath catch as she watched his lithe muscles reveal themselves with the movement. He looked down at her and she snatched a random book off the end table to try to hide the fact that she had been watching him so closely. Her face turned beet red as she heard him chuckling as he went upstairs to change.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

Growth

Draco changed quickly, not sure where exactly they were going or what "muggle stuff" would entail, so he tried to remember what she was wearing and match it the best he could. He closed his eyes and seemed to remember a light green dress and a black coat, so he went to the wardrobe and started looking. He pulled on black slacks and a light green button up shirt, it matched well enough, but it was times like this that he missed having his wand. He could have transfigured the outfit that he knew she had seen him wear before into something newer, but that wasn't an option now. So he made sure to roll up the sleeves of his shirt because he knew that she liked when he did that, and pulled on his socks and black dress shoes. He stopped by that bathroom long enough to brush his teeth and make sure that his hair was in place. The routine of dressing seemed simple enough, but it was something that he had allowed himself to get out of the habit of. Being stuck in the house most of the time he had gotten used to muggle pajamas, stretchy shorts or pants, and t-shirts, clothing that he wouldn't have ever thought that he would be comfortable in before coming here.

His whole life had changed though, he'd been spending all of his time here at the house, and even though it would have been confining and irritating for most people, he had found that he liked the solitude of it. Even with Jane there all the time and Hermione visiting more and more often, it was relaxing to just live in the small bubble of the house, and not having to worry about the outside world. He knew that calm safety of it wouldn't last forever. As soon as his sentence was complete, he would be back in the world, and he would have to make his way in it even with all the stigma against him because of his family's former mistakes.

He tried to redirect his thoughts to better things, as he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked the same as he always had, but somehow he felt completely different. Not a bad different, but _more_ than he had ever been before. He smirked as he shut the light off and headed back downstairs. He found Hermione pacing in the living room, if he didn't know better he would say that she looked almost nervous. He smiled at her as he found he had remembered her outfit well and was happy that in his idle state of living he hadn't lost his eye for details.

"So…. Muggle stuff." He said confidently as she stopped her pacing to watch him descend the last few steps. He felt himself standing slightly straighter as she slowly swept her gaze over him from his shoes up to his face, her eyes stopping to lock on his.

"Muggle stuff." She gave him a smile but didn't break their eye contact. He smirked back at her, knowing that she liked what she saw. She closed her eyes and seemed to regain her composure slightly. "I called us a cab… it's waiting." She pointed at the door and glanced back over at him.

"Well then, after you." He held his arm up as if to usher her forward, following her out to the cab waiting on the curb.

He watched as Hermione leaned forward to give the driver directions, he took a moment to appreciate just how beautiful that she really was. She always had been beautiful, even when she was awkward with bucked teeth she had been pretty, but when they were in school he'd never allowed himself to really dwell on the fact that she was growing into the strong, beautiful woman that she was. She was gorgeous now, and she was too good for someone like him. He liked to think that his muggle life was changing that fact and when this was over and done with he would be free to go forward in life without any complications. He wanted to think that, but he knew that wouldn't happen that way though. The choices of his family would stain their name and their reputations for generations to come, and she deserved better than that. She deserved someone who was on the same side as her in the war, someone that fought just as hard as she had to make the world a better place. Not the man that watched his Aunt torture her in his own house. He knew this, and she had to know it too, but that didn't stop her from sitting back in the seat next to him and smiling as she reached out to take his hand, their fingers entwining together.

"What do you want to do first?" she asked, he could tell that she was looking forward to their outing, even if he could still sense some of her nervousness. "Eat or shop?"

"Shop?" he raised an eyebrow at her as she glanced up into his eyes.

"Yes, shop… You haven't been shopping since your first week here, and it's getting cold." She looked at his rolled up shirt sleeves and he felt her a finger on her free hand trace the skin right under the dark mark. He resisted the urge to shudder under the touch.

"I don't have any money." He kept his voice down, not wanting the driver to think that they didn't have the funds to pay for the ride.

She watched his expression closely. There was something else in his eyes that almost looked like embarrassment, but Draco Malfoy didn't get embarrassed. He was the face of cool and collective, but… for someone that had always had, not only, everything he had ever wanted, but also the best of what money had to offer. She could see where not having the funds to get his own winter wardrobe would be unnerving for him.

"Don't worry about it," she said, squeezing his hand slightly. They both fell into silence, both watched out the windows without really seeing anything and both remained lost in their own thoughts the rest of the ride. Hermione knew that her feelings for the man sitting next to her had been changing over the last month or so, but she also knew that when his rehabilitation was completed he would be back in the magical world, and things wouldn't be like this anymore. As soon as he was back in the magical world he would be dealing with the prejudices of those that wanted him to rot in Azkaban for his father's crimes, and that few would approve or accept a relationship between the two of them. She glanced over at him to see a scowl on his face as if he was thinking the same thoughts that she was. She traced her fingers over his knuckles and he looked over at her, his steel eyes softening instantly.

"I'm all right." He answered the question in her eyes. "Not used to having someone else buy everything that I own, that's all." He had tried to keep the displeasure of the situation from his voice, and failed miserably. She didn't flinch from his honesty though.

She gave him a slight nod. "You should see about doing something for yourself, now that Jane is working…. Maybe you could get a job too."

"I could do that?" The thought honestly hadn't even crossed his mind.

"I could teach you everything that you need to know about Muggle money and such, you could get a job in a shop. Something that wouldn't be too missed when you could come back into the Magical world, but enough to give you money for yourself now."

He looked back out the window and thought about her proposal, working a muggle job didn't sound as bad as it might have before, but at the same time, something about it didn't set with him. He would have a year and a half to invest his time into something, just to walk away from it at the end of his sentence. Even though it sounded like a good idea, he just didn't want to throw his time away like that.

The cab came to a stop on the curb and he helped her out of the backseat. "You didn't answer my question." She said as she looped her arm in his. "Lunch or shopping?"

"Definitely lunch." He said, giving her a smile. "I've been shopping with you before. If we don't eat first, we won't eat at all."

"I do not know of what you speak of." She said in a mocking tone and laughed at him as she pulled him down the street toward the restaurant on the corner. "Come on, you're going to love this place."

It wasn't long into lunch that Draco figured out that Jane had been holding out on him. She had introduced him to Italian food, some American dishes… but Chinese food…. Wow, just wow. He was pretty sure that he needed more Chinese food in his life but even better than the food was the company. Hermione was amazing, and they fell into easy conversation about anything and everything. Her work, his family, his mother's progress, and she even told him a few details of some of his friends that had gotten rehabilitation too but weren't on her caseload. Blaise Zabini, Vincent Crabbe, Theo Nott and even his old one time girlfriend Pansy Parkinson. Draco was surprised to know even though they hadn't seen one another, the host families were all fairly close to one another, and where his mother, Theo, Vince and he were in homes with only one other person, Blaise and Pansy were with married couples that had children.

Hermione had never liked Pansy, but you would never guess that now as she told the story of Pansy and the potty training 2-year-old boy in her host's house. Apparently, Pansy had taken to babysitting the boy while his parents worked, and she was a natural when it came to small children. Draco couldn't imagine her working with any age children, but hearing Hermione's stories about it made it seem like it was something that Pansy was really happy with.

"She's going to University for Elementary Education," Hermione concluded as she took another bite of her noodles.

"University?"

"School." She said and smiled at me. "It would be like after finishing Hogwarts we went on to further our education, but it would specialize in whatever field we were wanting to work in. Except this is Muggle school so it specializes in the different fields that Muggles would need."

"And Pansy is thinking about going into Muggle education?" Draco asked, truly intrigued by the thought.

"Not entirely. I know that she wants to finish the Muggle education, even after her sentence is over, but she's also voiced morphing the two worlds together. Using the education to tutor and teach the younger children of wizarding families before they are old enough to go to Hogwarts." The expression on her face told Draco that she loved this idea very much. "I think that it's brilliant." She added as she took a sip of her drink.

"It's intriguing for sure." He said, filing the information back into his mind as she went to pay the bill. He hadn't thought about Muggle education before, he always knew that they had some form of an educational system, but it had never included him, but Pansy might be onto something though. With a muggle education in process at the end of her rehabilitation, it would make it harder for anyone to say that she hadn't lost her family's prejudice, and the fact that it could be used for her own benefit in their world was an added bonus.

"All right! Shopping!" Hermione said as came back to where he was waiting. She pulled his arm gently and then put her hand in his, they laced their fingers together as if it was nothing new to either of them and went out back into the street.

They went to almost every store in town, and she made him try on almost everything that she could get her hands on. Hermione felt a moments elation when she talked him into getting the navy blue coat versus the black one that he kept leaning towards. She thought that the color looked amazing on him. He seemed to be having a good time but she could tell that her buying everything was bothering him more than he let on. She could see it in the way that he watched the transactions being rung up, and the constant stream of questions about Muggle money, credit cards, and hourly wages. He was surprised that the Muggle form of taxes was almost identical to the taxes in the wizarding world. There was quite a bit that he was surprised at about the day, and by the time that they were ready to head back to the house, it was getting dark outside. Some of the stores were already closing up and they both were hungry again.

"Let's get takeout," Hermione suggested as she leaned into his arm and laid his head on his shoulder. He wasn't used to such affection, but he couldn't deny that it felt good.

"Sounds good to me. It'll keep Jane from having to help cook too."

"I hope her day got better," Hermione said as they walked towards the Italian restaurant that is near the middle of the street. They both knew that Jane really liked the Alfredo from there, and they both knew that she would need something familiar by the time that she got home.

"I'm sure it did," Draco said, thinking about all the things in the magical world that he had taken for granted. He had been raised around it, and it was just the way things were. He hadn't really thought about what it would have looked like for someone who had never seen magic before. "She'll get used to it though, she's a smart girl."

They ordered too much food for the three of them but didn't even care as they piled themselves and all their packages into a cab. The ride home was nice, Draco watched the street lights pass as he put his arm around Hermione's shoulders, pulling her closer to his side. She laid her head on his shoulder and he laid his head over on top of hers. He would've never thought that he could be so relaxed with the witch, but here they were. He had been with witches before, but never in this sense. Not holding hands, subtle touches, and kind words. Hermione was different in all regards. She was one of the only two people in the world that treat him like was a person and not an evil object. He didn't even want to know what the rest of the wizarding world thought about him, but with her… with her he was just Draco. He wasn't a Death Eater, or a stuck up Malfoy, he wasn't Pure-Blooded or superior to anyone. He was just himself, happy, content, and… _something_ else. He couldn't really place the other emotion that had flooded him throughout the day, but it was there none the less. It was there when she would take his hand, or when she would trace his knuckles with her soft fingertips. It was present when she would laugh at something he said, or when their eyes would meet. That unnamed emotion was new, and he liked it.

Jane Sharpe was having the most terrifyingly amazing and overwhelming days of her life. She had heard through the grapevine that Hermione Granger had left her office shortly before lunch, and then she had the pleasure of hearing the rumor mill that was the Ministry of Magic. The speculations of Hermione and her hidden lover were everywhere. She learned that everyone had thought that Ron Weasley and she would be married by now, and when that didn't happen, Ron had moved away with Lavender Brown. The scandal of the whole situation, which had happened months before, was appalling to Jane. Apparently, when you had the magic to do anything that you wanted with the flick of a wand, it gave one all the extra time in the world to talk about everyone else.

Not that she was being fair, muggles liked to gossip too. It was just that Jane wasn't accustomed to the ones getting gossiped about being her friends, and her life wasn't usually the one under the microscope. Everyone already knew who she was, and they knew that the dreaded Draco Malfoy lived with her. That in itself was enough to get plenty of looks of either pity or disgust; She wasn't sure which was worse, thinking that he actually came from this world and that this was the opinion of him that most shared, or to think that people thought that she would feel the same way they do about him just because they said some horrible things about him.

She liked to think that she knew him better than that. She had read the files, she knew what he was in the past, but that wasn't the person that cohabited with her now. He was kind, thoughtful, and almost timid. The world seemed new to him in a way that was almost innocent, and she liked that part of him. He wasn't evil, or hateful… and she wanted nothing more than to tell all these people to go to hell for the things that they were saying about him.

"Ignore them." Minister Shacklebolt said from beside her. He had told her to call him Kingsley, but the informality of it felt all wrong, he was the one in charge for Christ's sake. She had a hard time thinking of him by his first name only.

"Do I have another option?" she said, the bitterness coming out in her tone.

"They don't understand," he said, giving her a sideways look. "They all have had some bad things happen in their lives, everyone has. Some are worse than others, but I can tell you, there isn't anyone here that the war didn't touch… That Voldemort didn't touch"

"And in extension, Draco didn't touch." She said sarcastically.

"I know that he didn't cause this, but he's a well-known member of society here. He is a recognizable face, who unfortunately favors the father that did cause a lot of this."

"You're saying that he has to live with the fact that he's the scapegoat for everyone else's sorrows just because he looks like his father?" She let out an exasperated sigh. _Poor Draco._

"I think that it will get better with time," Shacklebolt said matter of factly. She guessed he wouldn't have the same kind of thoughts on the situation though, seeing how he wasn't the one in Draco's shoes.

"It's getting late… You should go home, get some rest, and we will see you back here in the morning." He said as they stopped in front of the visitor's entrance. He knew that they would have to make another entrance for the Muggle employee's, but for the time being this one was what they had. He watched her as she stood in front of him with her arms crossed and her foot tapping the floor in aggravation.

He allowed himself a small amount of amusement imagining what everyone else would think about Draco and her's friendship, their real friendship, not the make-believe one that everyone seemed to think that they had. She was the Muggle that was ready to take on every Magical person in this building to defend the man that she had grown to know. He also wondered what everyone else would think if they knew what he did about Hermione Granger and Draco Malfoy. Hermione had left earlier in the day, and he had a feeling that he knew exactly where she had gone after she apparated out of her office in a hurry.

"Things have a way of working out in the end." He said and smiled at her kindly.

"You sent him to me because you thought that I could fix this." She gestured towards the massive atrium around them, "I don't have magic, how am I supposed to help? What do I have to do?"

The determination on her face touched him, he knew that he had made the right decision by pairing Draco with her, but even he couldn't have imagined how well that decision would pan out. She was strong enough to hold her own against the boy, but she was still soft enough to see through his insecurities to the good man underneath.

"You know, a wise man once said, "It is our choices that show us what we truly are far more than our abilities". You don't have magic, but you have something else that a lot of the people here don't have. You have hope."

"Isn't everything here supposed to be built on hope. It's right after a war, and everyone's still envisioning the perfect future and all?" She looked around the immaculate atrium again, there were only a few witches and wizards still roaming around. A few of them were huddled around a parchment that one was suspending in the air in front of them, she could tell by their expressions that its content was important to them, probably work related. Other's were talking and laughing, she liked to think that they were making plans to go out to eat together, or maybe their families were friends and they were going to all get together this weekend to hang out. She smiled slightly at them, they were normal people, but she already knew that they were still scared people.

"The funny thing about people envisioning the future is they like to imagine all the unpleasant parts going away without them having to do anything. The people that are in rehabilitation aren't going away just because the majority doesn't want to be uncomfortable enough to deal with them. They're all going to have to learn to forgive and start new. Letting go of their own prejudices, or risk becoming exactly what they hated to begin with." He looked down at her and he could see her expression soften as understanding washed over her.

"The new department…"

"Is needed for more than one reason." Kingsley nodded. He could see her putting all the pieces together in her mind.

"I don't need magic for that." The determination in her voice reminded him so much of the other youth that had fought this war and won. The Golden Trio had fought Voldemort and won the new beginning, and now it was people like Jane that would help mold it into the future that was needed.


End file.
